Donegal (town)

Donegal (/ˌdʌnɪˈɡɔːl, ˌdɒn-, ˈdɒnɪɡɔːl/ DUN-ig-AWL, DON-, DON-ig-awl; Irish: Dún na nGall [ˈd̪ˠuːnˠ n̪ˠə ˈŋal̪ˠ], "fort of the foreigners") is a town in County Donegal in Ulster, the northern province in Ireland. Although Donegal gave its name to the county, now Lifford is the county town. From the 15th until the early 17th century, Donegal was the "capital" of Tyrconnell, a Gaelic kingdom controlled by the O'Donnell dynasty of the Northern Uí Néill. The town is in a civil parish of the same name.

Donegal is in South Donegal and is located at the mouth of the River Eske and Donegal Bay, which is overshadowed by the Blue Stack Mountains ("the Croaghs"). The Drumenny Burn, which flows along the eastern edge of Donegal Town, flows into the River Eske on the north-eastern edge of the town, between the Community Hospital and The Northern Garage. The Ballybofey Road (the R267) crosses the Drumenny Burn near where it flows into the River Eske. The town is bypassed by the N15 and N56 roads. The centre of the town, known as The Diamond, is a hub for music, poetic and cultural gatherings in the area. There is a memorial to the Four Masters in the centre of the Diamond.

There is archaeological evidence for settlements around the town dating to prehistoric times, including the remains of ringforts and other defensive earthworks.

Donegal Town itself is famous for being the former centre of government of the O'Donnell dynasty, the great Gaelic royal family who ruled Tyrconnell in west Ulster for centuries and who played a pivotal role in Irish history. Their original homeland lay further to the north in the area of Kilmacrennan. From the 15th to the 17th century, they were an important part of the opposition to the colonisation of Ireland by England. The town itself contains Donegal Castle, on the banks of the River Eske, and the remains of Donegal Abbey, a Franciscan abbey which dates back to the 15th century on the Southern shore of the Bay. The Annals of the Four Masters may have been partially written in the old abbey in the 1630s. The story of Hugh Roe O'Donnell, Lord of Tyrconnell, was the inspiration behind many books and films, not least, Disney's The Fighting Prince of Donegal.

In 1601 the Siege of Donegal took place during the Nine Years' War. After the Flight of the Earls from near Rathmullan in September 1607, the castle and its lands were seized by the English Crown and given to an Englishman, Captain Basil Brooke, as part of the Plantation of Ulster. Captain (later Sir) Basil Brooke (ancestor of the Viscounts Brookeborough) was granted the castle around 1611 and he proceeded to carry out major reconstruction work and added a wing to the castle in the Jacobean style. The current plan of the town was also laid out by Brooke, including an attractive town square known as The Diamond. From the late 17th until the early 20th centuries, Donegal Town formed part of the vast estates of the Gore family (from 1762 Earls of Arran in the Peerage of Ireland) and it was during their ownership that the town took on its present appearance.^{[citation needed]} Donegal Borough returned two members to the Irish House of Commons, the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland, until the Acts of Union 1800 came into force in January 1801. Evidence of the Great Famine still exists, including a workhouse, whose buildings are now part of the local hospital, and many famine graves.

The population in 1841 was 1,366.

Donegal Castle was the stronghold of the O'Donnells. It has been restored by the Office of Public Works.

Dedicated to Saint Patrick and "the Four Masters", this Catholic church was built in the early 1930s and was completed in 1935. Known locally as "the Chapel" or "the Town Chapel", it was designed by Ralph Byrne, the famous Dublin architect, in a mixed neo-Irish Romanesque and neo-Gothic style.