Ranafast

---

title: "Ranafast" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["gaeltacht-places-in-county-donegal", "gaeltacht-towns-and-villages", "the-rosses", "townlands-of-county-donegal"] description: "Gaeltacht village in County Donegal, Ireland" topic_path: "general/gaeltacht-places-in-county-donegal" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranafast" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Gaeltacht village in County Donegal, Ireland ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

Field	Value
name	Ranafast
other_name	Rinnafarset
native_name
settlement_type	Village
image_skyline	Rinnafarset area - Homes - geograph.org.uk - 1174925.jpg
image_caption	A view of Ranafast
map_caption	Location in County Donegal
pushpin_map	Ireland County Donegal#Ireland
pushpin_label_position	right
subdivision_type	Country
subdivision_name	Ireland
subdivision_type1	Province
subdivision_name1	Ulster
subdivision_type2	County
subdivision_name2	County Donegal
subdivision_type3	Barony
subdivision_name3	Boylagh
leader_title1	Dáil constituency
leader_name1	Donegal
unit_pref	Metric
population_footnotes
population_total	350
coordinates
blank_name	Irish Grid Reference
blank_info
footnotes	Rann na Feirste is the only official name. The anglicised spellings Rannafast and Rinnafarset have no official status.
::

| name = Ranafast | other_name = Rinnafarset | native_name = | settlement_type = Village | image_skyline = Rinnafarset area - Homes - geograph.org.uk - 1174925.jpg | image_caption = A view of Ranafast | map_caption = Location in County Donegal | pushpin_map = Ireland County Donegal#Ireland | pushpin_label_position = right | pushpin_map_caption = | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = Ireland | subdivision_type1 = Province | subdivision_name1 = Ulster | subdivision_type2 = County | subdivision_name2 = County Donegal | subdivision_type3 = Barony | subdivision_name3 = Boylagh | established_title = | established_date = | leader_title1 = Dáil constituency | leader_name1 = Donegal | unit_pref = Metric | area_footnotes = | area_total_km2 = | population_as_of = | population_footnotes = | population_total = 350 | population_density_km2 = | coordinates = | elevation_footnotes = | elevation_m = | blank_name = Irish Grid Reference | blank_info = | website = | footnotes = Rann na Feirste is the only official name. The anglicised spellings Rannafast and Rinnafarset have no official status. Ranafast or Rinnafarset, officially only known by its Irish name Rann na Feirste (), is a Gaeltacht village and townland in the Rosses district in the west of County Donegal in Ulster, the northern province in Ireland.

Name

Ranafast, or sometimes Rannafast or Rinnafarset, is the anglicised version of the area's original and official name Rann na Feirste.

Language

Ranafast is a Gaeltacht area, therefore the Irish language is the predominantly spoken language. According to the 2016 census 90.4% of the population of Ranafast could speak Irish and 66.6% of the population spoke Irish daily outside the education system.

Arts and culture

The writers Séamus Ó Grianna and Seosamh Mac Grianna were born in Ranafast.

The storyteller and writer, Mici (Sheáin Néill) Ó Baoill, was from Ranafast.

Education

There is a primary gaelcoil, Scoil Naisiunta Olibhear Pluinceid (Oliver Plunkett National School), located in the village.

Coláiste Bhríde is an Irish-language Gaeltacht College that was established in the village by Fr Lorcán Ó Muireadhaigh in August 1926. The college was formerly based in Omeath, County Louth from 1912-1926. A number of notable people have attended the college including T. K. Whitaker, Éamon de Valera, Bernadette McAliskey, Phil Coulter, and Cardinal Tomás O Fiaich.

References

References

1. "Sapmap Area: Settlements Rann Na Feirste". [[Central Statistics Office (Ireland)]].
2. "Rann na Feirste / Rinnafarset".
3. (21 December 2004). "An tOrdú Logainmneacha (Ceantair Ghaeltachta) 2004".
4. Sharkey, Kevin. (13 August 2015). "Ranafast Gaeltacht in Donegal fights Irish language decline". [[BBC News]].
5. (6 January 2024). "Here's what a summer in the Donegal Gaeltacht looked like 60 years ago". [[IrishCentral]].
6. (29 April 2020). "Documentary to be broadcast on Donegal's historic Rannafast Irish college". [[Iconic Newspapers#Websites.
7. (18 May 2023). "Profile 10 Education, Skills and the Irish Language".
8. (2 September 2021). "Documentary about Irish language writer Séamus Ó Grianna to air on BBC Two NI".
9. McCallig, Elaine. (1 November 2020). "Famous Ranafast writer’s book translated into English for the first time". [[Donegal Daily]].
10. (2 October 2016). "Siúlach Scéalach - Oireachtas Gaeilge 1971". [[Raidió na Gaeltachta]].
11. Hughes, Art J.. (2001). "Advancing the language: Irish in the Twenty-First Century". Center for Irish studies at the [[University of St. Thomas (Minnesota).
12. (9 July 2025). "S N OLIBHEAR PLUINCEID". [[Department of Education and Youth]].
13. (30 April 2020). "Coláiste Bhríde, Rann na Feirste". [[RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta]].
14. Quinn, James. (December 2013). "Dictionary of Irish Biography". [[Royal Irish Academy]].
15. (29 April 2020). "Documentary to be broadcast on Donegal's historic Rannafast Irish college". [[Iconic Newspapers#Websites.
16. (30 April 2020). "Clár speisialta faoi Choláiste Bhríde, Rann na Feirste, le craoladh ar RTÉ RnaG". [[Conradh na Gaeilge]].

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