In the early days of the Twentieth Century , the County Donegal Railway was in its heyday.

Nena Models' factory

In 1920 Porter & Co. started their shirt factory in Castlefin, in a small premises in Main Street. This was later extended and through the years, the factory gave much needed employment to women and girls in the area. They continued to do so in their modern factory - Portico & Co. Ltd. Sadly, 1989 saw the end of this. Owing to many factors of present-day trading, the factory closed down.

But the premises have been taken over by Nena Models Ltd. Their first factory was built on the site of the old Hillhead School, in 1969, for the manufacture of Ladies and Childrens clothing. The company has prospered and has moved to larger premises in Stranorlar. Their products are sold to big London firms as well as to the home market. Fortunately, many of those made redundant by the closure of Portico Ltd. have found employment with this firm.

Clonleigh Co-Op Society

Clonleigh Co-operative Society Ltd. was founded in 1952 - with an office at Mr. Patterson's house at Laurel Hill and thirty shareholders. It has grown rapidly since then, to embrace a major part of the farming trade of East Donegal. It's modern premises specialises in farm requirements, it's hardware department offers excellent bargains.

Mixed farming is still carried on in the area. The main crops are oats, wheat, barley, potatoes, etc. Sheep rearing has increased in recent years.

Grahamsland Housing Estate

In 1945, Dr. S.P. Kerrigan, writing in the Donegal Annual was very scathing and critical about Castlefin village, with its crumbling houses, broken walls, lack of water supply and sewerage facilities. Like the writer of 1750, he had no great hope for it's future!

Our family came to Castlefin in 1955 and have seen many improvements made during the years. People had just moved into the Grahamsland Housing Estate at that time.

The new St Mary's Parochial Hall replaced the tiny old Hall, and is a useful Community Centre for everyone. St Mary's Hall

The fine new Castlefin National School has replaced the poky little one at Hillhead. This school has been further extended and now caters for 280 pupils and has nine teachers. (circa early '90s) Castlefin National School

Later, the Hillhead Housing Estate was completed, and recently, Emmett Park Private houses are being built all over the district.

St Mary's Catholic Church

We have the new St. Mary's Catholic Church, with its well-kept grounds and spacious car-parking facilities. A modern Parochial House has been built beside it.

We have got our water supply, sewerage scheme and good street lighting.

Now, in the nineties, we have an enthusiastic and hard-working group of locals - Castlefin Community Enterprises Ltd., who - with the aid of the International Fund for Ireland, are improving the village.

The knitwear factory - old Parochial House

A knitwear factory has been started in the former Parochial House, in Main Street. Though some teething problems have come up, it is hoped that better progress will be made, in the future, with the aid of an experienced partner.

During the Winter months, extensive work has been carried out on the Diamond (click here for images of the Diamond), by contractors - Joseph McMenamin & Sons Ltd.

We now have neatly-paved footpaths, surrounding a central area, set aside for grass and flower-beds.Trees have been planted by the ladies of the Diamond. Seats have been positioned around this section. A number of other projects for the district are in the pipeline. It is hoped to enter for the Tidy Towns Competition in the near future.

If the writer of 1750, or indeed Dr.Kerrigan could return, they would be surprised at the improvements made in the village they so derided!

Mary Agnes Elliott, c. 1993

NB: Since the above article was written, improvements, too numerous to mention, have been carried out in Castlefin. Several nice town-house developments have been completed, as well as the very desirable Caislain Court, which stands on an elevated site overlooking the Main Street.

On the downside, one of the most spectacular failures in the last decade was the knitwear factory, which - although hugely grant-aided and equipped with state-of-the-art machinery - went into receivership before even getting properly off the ground...an abject lesson that not even the most detailed business plan or set of projections can guarantee a business' success.