Dowra - Citizendia

Dowra (Irish: An Damhshraith, meaning The Shrine of the Ox) is a small village in northwest County Cavan, Ireland. Irish (ga ''Gaeilge'' is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish. County Cavan ( Contae an Chabháin in Irish) is a County in Ireland. Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world It is the first village on, and marks the most uppermost navigable point of, the River Shannon. The River Shannon ( Sionainn or Sionna in Irish) is at 386 km (240 miles the longest river in Ireland.

DOWRA - An Damhshraith

DOWRA Bridge - first town on the Shannon

The River Shannon immediately upstream of DOWRA Bridge

On one side of its bridge is County Cavan; on the other is County Leitrim. County Leitrim ( is one of the counties of Ireland and is part of the province of Connacht.

Looking east across the bridge toward Leitrim

Looking north - up 'Main Street' - on the Cavan side.

The source of the River Shannon, known as the Shannon Pot is located about 7 miles to the north. The Shannon Pot (Irish Lag na Sionna meaning hollow of the Shannon) is a turlough in the Karst topography found on the slopes of Cuilcagh The Cavan Way hiking trail starts in the village and the The Leitrim Way passes through it. The Miner's Way is also nearby.

Directions to everywhere!

DOWRA - just about all of it - from above the old Gardai barracks!

The village was formed in the late 1800s after another village close by, Tober, was washed away by land slides. The remains of the Black Pigs Dyke can be seen outside the village.

The main industries in the locality are agriculture, forestry and construction. There is a livestock mart held every Saturday. Dowra has -

4 pubs (Melrose Inn, Shannon House and Keegan's on the Cavan side and Gildea's on the Leitrim side). In the 1960s, the village boasted a population of 80 people and 8 pubs!
3 shops (O'Rourkes Spar, Dolan's (Post Office) in Cavan and P. S. Loughlins in Leitrim)
1 Funeral Undertaker (Keegan)
2 Estate Agent (DM Auctions and Keegan)
1 Health Centre
1 Firestation
1 Community Centre
1 Bank (National Irish Bank) - in process of closure.
1 set of Petrol Pumps located at MelRose Inn
1 Primary School (Cornagee)
1 Garda Station
1 Courthouse (stopped operating in 2006)

The nucleus of the village is situated in the Cavan side. The village church is located approximately 2 miles north and is called the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Doobally. There are also 2 other churches close by in Newbridge and Ballinaglera.

As of the last General Election (May 2007), the three parts of the parish of Ballinaglera (Doobally, Newbridge, Ballinaglera) are each located in a separate constituency, namely: Cavan-Monaghan, Sligo-North-Leitrim and Roscommon-South Leitrim respectively.

The Dowra Affair

The village achieved prominence in the 1980s when Sean Doherty, (former Fianna Fáil Justice Minister) had the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) via his counterpart in Westminister detain witnesses travelling through Northern Ireland to testify at a trial of his brother in-law. Seán Doherty (Seán Ó Dochartaigh 29 June 1944 &ndash 7 June 2005 known informally as The Doc, was a controversial Irish Fianna Fáil politician and Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach shortened to Fianna Fáil ( is currently the largest Political party in the The Royal Ulster Constabulary GC was the name of the Police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001

The Dowra Affair

See also