page_title: Finstown
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Finstown / History
caption_attribution_description: w:Pipe Band at w:Finstown Gala Behind the band is the stone Pomona Inn which takes its name from the classical name for w:Mainland, Orkney. Old red sandstone dyke is evident behind the band as is the grassy hillside rising to the south of the village's main street. The band is leading floats and fancy dress procession of the Finstown Gala.
context_page_description: Finstown is a village in the parish of Firth on Mainland, Orkney, Scotland. It is the fourth-largest settlement on the island. According to travel author Eric Linklater, the homes in Finstown are tidy and well cared for. This settlement is situated along the Bay of Firth, whose fringe is a shallow intertidal mudflat. The village is situated at the junction of the A965 and the A966. In 2011 it has a population of 440.
context_section_description: Prehistoric finds have been made in the form of ancient cists, somewhat west of the primary school. Further east towards Kirkwall is the Rennibister Earth House, estimated to be 3000 years old.
  Formerly called "Toon o' Firth", the origin of the Finstown name is thought to come from an Irishman named David Phin who came to the area in 1811. A soldier with the 9th Royal Veteran Battalion, he married a Kirkwall girl in 1813. In 1820, he opened an ale-house which was called the Toddy Hole by arrangement with John Miller of Millquoy. Four years later they quarrelled and Phin left for Aberdeen, but his name remained. The ale-house building is now the site of the Pomona Inn hostelry, after an old name for Mainland Orkney.
  The former Liberal Party leader Jo Grimond is buried in Finstown.
caption: Finstown Gala with pipe band. Credit: Colin Smith
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