Editing Fanad (section)

===17th and 18th centuries===
The power of the MacSweeneys as Lords of Fanad ended with the [[Flight of the Earls]] in 1607 and the subsequent [[Plantation of Ulster]], though they continued to hold some lands in Fanad as proprietors until the 1641 rising, following which all remaining MacSweeney lands were confiscated. The "hereditary commandery" of Fanad remains in the MacSweeney's families.[[Leabhar Clainne Suibhne]]

Lands in Fanad were granted principally to [[servitor (Ireland)|servitors]] (Crown servants including veterans of the Nine Years War). Settlers noted in the 1654 Civil Survey include Richard Perkins at BelliclanmcCallen (sic), William and David Lyne at Bunintyne (Bunnaton?), John Rowly at Ballymastocker, Craveross (Croaghross?) and Magherawarden, Thomas Stewart at Carlan, Knockbrack and Drumfad, William Patton at Croghan, Colin and Patrick Campbell at Moross and Luke Ashe at Ballyhork. Some lands at Tullynadall were granted to the Provost and Fellows of Trinity College, Dublin.

[[Rathmullan]] was initially granted to Sir [[Ralph Bingley]] but was soon passed to his son-in-law, Bishop Knox. [[Rathmullan]] was incorporated as a town and in 1618, Knox modified the Carmelite Friary to serve as a manor house. It remained as the residence of the Knox family until the late eighteenth century.<ref name="auto1">As per Chapter Four  – Archaeology and History of Lough Swilly by Thomas McErlean, from Lough Swilly – A Living Landscape, Ed. Andrew Cooper (2011)</ref> Also notable at this stage was the building of the Church of Ireland in Rosnakill in 1693.<ref name="auto"/>

Despite the plantation, Fanad retained its majority native population and Gaelic ways and Irish remained the principal spoken language of the peninsula – a situation that remained generally unchanged until the mid 19th century. The 18th century saw the introduction into Fanad of rural industry with a corresponding improvement in infrastructure. Rearing cattle commercially, herring fishing, flax growing and linen production came to feature in the local economy from the mid-18th century.