County Donegal

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For other uses, see Donegal (disambiguation)

County Donegal (Irish: Contae Dhún na nGall. Sometimes unofficially known in Irish as Tír Chonaill) is a county located in the west of the Province of Ulster, in the northwest of Ireland. It is one of three counties in the Province of Ulster that does not form part of Northern Ireland. Despite it being the most northern county in all of Ireland, and despite its very strong Ulster identity, the county is part of the Republic of Ireland. County Donegal is the largest county in Ulster. The name 'Donegal' comes from the Irish, meaning 'The Fort of the Foreigners'. The county was named after the former administrative centre of Donegal Town, the old stronghold of the O'Donnell royal family in the south of the county. When first created, it was sometimes referred to as County Tyrconnel (Irish: Tír Chonaill), after both the old original Tír Chonaill kingdom and the Tyrconnel earldom that succeeded it. Calling the whole county Tír Conaill is technically incorrect as the Inishowen Peninsula (Irish: Inis Eoghain) is historically distinct from Tír Chonaill.

Uniquely, Donegal shares a border with only one county in the Republic of Ireland, County Leitrim in north Connacht. The rest of its land border is shared with the United Kingdom (the Northern Irish counties of Londonderry, Tyrone and Fermanagh). This apparent isolation has led to Donegal people and their customs being considered distinct from the rest of the country and has been used to market the county with the slogan Up here it's different. As regards it's culture and traditions, County Donegal has much more in common with Northern Ireland than it does with the rest of the Republic of Ireland. The people of Donegal are famous for their 'accent' (or more correctly 'accents'), which is very much an Ulster accent. Despite Lifford being the county town (and there also being a Donegal town), the largest town is Letterkenny, which is quite possibly the fastest growing town in all of Ulster.

County Donegal has always had a very strong and close relationship with the City of Derry, the unofficial regional 'capital' of the North-West of Ireland. Before 1600, Derry was part of the Inishowen Peninsula Derry has acted for centuries as the main economic and transport hub and sea-port for both County Donegal and West Tyrone. This was especially so before the rapid growth and development of nearby Letterkenny from the late 1960's. Nowadays, the vast majority of the Catholic population of the City of Derry are of County Donegal ancestry. Huge numbers of people from County Donegal work - and often live - in Derry. Likewise, many natives of Derry City also work - and often live - in County Donegal. In addition, large numbers of young Donegal people attend secondary schools in Derry and/or study at the city's third-level institutions, especially Magee College (part of the University of Ulster) and North-West Regional College (popularly known as Derry Tech). Both Donegal County Council and Derry City Council co-operate closely with each other on many projects and initiatives.

History

County Donegal is famous for being the home of the once mighty Clan Dálaigh, better known today in English as the O'Donnell Clan. Until around A.D. 1600, the O'Donnells were one of Ireland's richest and most powerful Gaelic (native Irish) families. Within the Province of Ulster only the Clan Uí Néill (known in English as the O'Neill Clan) of modern County Tyrone were more powerful. The O'Donnell's were Ulster's second most powerful clan or ruling-family from the early thirteenth-century through to the very start of the seventeenth-century. For several centuries the O'Donnell's ruled Tír Chonaill, a Gaelic kingdom in West Ulster that covered almost all of modern County Donegal. The head of the O'Donnell family had the titles An Ó Domhnaill (meaning The O'Donnell in English) and Rí Tír Chonaill (meaning King of Tír Chonaill in English). Based at Donegal Castle in Dún na nGall (modern Donegal Town), the O'Donnell King's of Tír Chonaill were traditionally inaugurated at Doon Rock near Kilmacrenan. O'Donnell royal or chiefly power was finally ended in what was then the new County Donegal in A.D. 1607, following The Flight of the Earls from near Rathmullan. The modern County Arms of Donegal (dating from the early 1970's) was influenced by the design on the old O'Donnell royal arms. The County Arms is the official coat-of-arms of both County Donegal and Donegal County Council.

Geography

Physically, the county is by far the most rugged and mountainous in Ulster. The county consists chiefly of low mountains, with a deeply indented coastline forming natural loughs, of which both Lough Swilly and Lough Foyle are the most notable. The famous mountains or Hills of Donegal consist of two major ranges, the Derryveagh Mountains in the north and the Bluestack Mountains in the south, with Mount Errigal at 749 metres the highest peak. The Slieve League cliffs are the second highest sea cliffs in Europe, while Donegal's Malin Head is the most northerly point on the island of Ireland.

The climate is temperate and dominated by the Gulf Stream, with cool damp summers and mild wet winters. Two permanently inhabited islands, Arranmore and Tory Island lie off the coast, along with a large number of islands with only transient inhabitants. Ireland's second longest river, the Erne, enters Donegal Bay near the town of Ballyshannon. The River Erne, along with other Donegal waterways, has been dammed to produce hydroelectric power. The River Foyle separates County Donegal from parts of both County Londonderry (also known as County Derry) and County Tyrone

An extensive rail network used to exist through out the county and was operated by the County Donegal Railways Joint Committee and the Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway Company. Even though the railways in Donegal are fondly remembered, the network was completely closed by 1960. Today, the closest railway station to the county is Waterside Station in the City of Derry, which is operated by Northern Ireland Railways (N.I.R.). County Donegal is served by both Donegal Airport at Carrickfinn in The Rosses in the west of the county and by City of Derry Airport at Eglinton in the east. The nearest main international airport to the county is Belfast International Airport (popularly known as Aldergrove Airport), which is located to the east at Aldergrove, near Antrim Town, in County Antrim.

County Donegal can be divided up into a number of traditional districts. In the west there is The Rosses (Irish: Na Rosa), centered on the town of Dungloe (Irish: An Clochán Liath), and Gweedore (Irish: Gaoth Dobhair). Both of these are Gaeltact (Irish speaking) areas. In the county's north-west is Cloghaneely (Irish: Cloich Chionnaola), centered on the town of Falcarragh (Irish: An Fál Carrach), also in the Gaeltacht. Inishowen, Fanad and Rosguill are three peninsula in the north of the county. Inishowen (centered on the town of Buncrana) is one of Ireland's largest peninsulas. In the east of the county is located both the Laggan Valley (centered on the town of Raphoe) and the Finn Valley (centered on Ballybofey), districts with very fertile land. Ulster-Scots is widely spoken in these eastern districts.

Culture and heritage

The variant of the Irish language spoken in Donegal is distinctive, and shares traits with Scottish Gaelic. The Irish spoken in the Donegal Gaeltacht (Irish speaking area) is of the West Ulster dialect, while Inishowen, which became English-speaking only in the early 20th century, used the East Ulster dialect. Ulster-Scots is still spoken to a degree in the Laggan Valley and Finn Valley of east Donegal.

Donegal Irish has a strong influence on Irish speakers across Ulster, who find themselves speaking a dialect noticeably different from the Irish most commonly spoken and understood in Dublin.

Like other areas on the western seaboard of Ireland, Donegal has a distinctive fiddle tradition which is of world renown. Donegal is also well known for its songs which have, like the instrumental music, a distinctive sound. Donegal musical artists such as the bands Clannad and Altan and solo artist Enya, all from Gaoth Dobhair, have had international success with traditional or traditional flavoured music. Donegal music has also influenced people not originally from the county including folk and pop singer Paul Brady. Popular music is also common, the county's most famous rock artist being the Ballyshannon born Rory Gallagher, Kilcar based indie band The Revs also had some good success in the Irish charts.

Donegal has a long literary tradition in both Irish and English. The famous Irish Navvy-turned novelist Patrick MacGill, author of many books about the experiences of Irish migrant itinerant labourers in Britain at around the turn of the 20th century, such as The Rat Pit and the autobiographical Children of the Dead End, is from the Glenties area. There is a literary summer school in Glenties named in his honour. The Republican and novelist Peadar O'Donnell hails from The Rosses in west Donegal.

Modern exponents include the Inishowen playwright and poet Frank McGuinness and the playwright Brian Friel. Many of Friel's plays are set in the fictional Donegal town of Ballybeg.

Authors in Donegal have been creating works, like the Annals of the Four Masters, in Gaelic and Latin since the Early Middle Ages. In modern Irish Donegal has produced famous, and sometimes controversial, authors such as the brothers Séamus Ó Grianna and Seosamh Mac Grianna from The Rosses and the contemporary (and controversial) Irish-language poet Cathal Ó Searcaigh from Gortahork in Cloghaneely, and where he is known to locals as Gúrú na gCnoc ("the Guru of the Hills").

Donegal has had a significant Protestant presence, being the most Protestant county in the Republic of Ireland - a community with many links and similiaries to their Northern Irish correligionists and whose history dates to Scottish and English settlement during the 17th century Plantation of Ulster.. The vast majority of the county's Protestants live in both the Laggan Valley and Finn Valley of East Donegal. The Orange Order, a pro Protestant organisation, has a large membership in the county. Orange church services are hosted each year occur throughout the county. The largest parade is held at Rossnowlagh, a tiny village near Ballyshannon in the very south of the county. With its complex mix of cultures, Donegal could be seen as a microcosm for the Island of Ireland as a whole.

Donegal has also contributed to culture elsewhere. One Donegal native, Francis Alison, was one of the founders of the College of Philadelphia, which would later become the University of Pennsylvania.

Politics

Donegal County Council has responsibility for local administration, running alongside Town Councils in Letterkenny, Bundoran, Ballyshannon and Buncrana. Both the County Council and Town Councils have elections every five years (alongside local elections nationally, and elections to the European Parliament), the last of which took place on the 11 June 2004. Twenty nine councillors are elected using the system of Proportional Representation, across five electoral areas (Inishowen, Letterkenny, Donegal, Stranorlar, Glenties and Milford). Donegal County Council's main offices are located in the County House in Lifford, but regional offices are located in Carndonagh, Milford, Letterkenny, Dungloe and Donegal.

For general (national) elections, the county is divided into two constituencies, Donegal South West and Donegal North East, with both having three representatives in Dáil Éireann. For elections to the European Parliament, the county is part of the Ireland North-West constituency (formerly Connacht-Ulster).

Sport

The Gaelic Athletic Association (G.A.A.) sport of Gaelic football is popular in Donegal, as is soccer — association football. Hurling is not such a big sport in the North-West of Ireland. Donegal's Gaelic football team have won the All-Ireland title once (in 1992), and in 2007 Donegal won only their second national title by winning the National Football League. The hurling team has never managed a title. There are 16 senior G.A.A. Clubs in county Donegal.

Cricket is also played in County Donegal. This sport is chiefly confined to the Laggan Valley and Finn Valley in the east of the county. The town of Raphoe and the nearby village of St. Johnston, both in the Laggan Valley, are the traditional 'strongholds' of cricket within the county. The game is mainly played and followed by members of County Donegal's Protestant community.

Football

Finn Harps play in the Football League of Ireland and won promotion to the Premier League in 2007 following a 6-3 aggregate win in the playoff final. They are now back alongside their arch-rivals Derry City F.C. who they contest the North-West Derby with. No other Donegal teams have achieved the status of Finn Harps, but football teams abound across the county.

Donegal's rugged landscape lends itself to active sports like climbing, hillwalking, surfing and kite-flying. Many people travel to Donegal for the superb golf links — long sandy beaches and extensive dune systems are a feature of the county, and many links courses have been developed.

Rock climbing is of very high quality and still under-developed in the county. The complete Donegal climbing guidebook is available at the Colmcille Climbers website. There is a wealth of good quality climbs in the county from granite rocks in the south to quartzite and dolerite in the north; from long mountain routes in the Poisoned Glen to boulder challenges of excellent quality in the west and in the Inishowen Peninsula.

Surfing on Donegal's Atlantic coast is considered to be as good as any in Ireland and up there in the world ratings. The old Victorian seaside resort of Bundoran, located in the very south of the county, has been 'reborn' as the centre of surfing in County Donegal. Indeed, Bundoran is now the main surfing 'resort' in Ulster.

Tourism

With its sandy beaches, unspoilt boglands and friendly communities, Co.Donegal is a favoured destination for many travellers, Irish (especially Northern Irish) and foreign alike. One of the county treasures is Glenveagh National Park (formerly part of the Glenveagh Estate), as yet (February 2008) the only official national park anywhere in the Province of Ulster. The park is a 140 km² nature reserve with spectacular scenery of mountains, raised boglands, lakes and woodlands. At it's heart is Glenveagh Castle, a beautiful late Victorian 'folly' that was originally built as a summer residence.

The Donegal Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking district) also attracts young people to County Donegal each year during the school summer holidays. The three week long summer Gaeltacht courses give young Irish people from other parts of the country a chance to learn the Irish language and traditional Irish cultural traditions that are still prevalent in parts of Donegal. The Donegal Gaeltacht has traditionally been a very popular destination each summer for young people from Northern Ireland.

Towns and Villages in County Donegal

Annagry, Ardara
Ballintra, Ballybofey, Ballyshannon, Buncrana, Bundoran, Burtonport
Carndonagh, Carrigart, Carrigans, Clonmany, Convoy, Creeslough, Castlefin, Culdaff
Donegal, Downings, Dunfanaghy, Dungloe
Glencolmcille, Glenties, Gort an Choirce, Greencastle, Gweedore
Falcarragh
Laghey , Letterkenny, Lifford
Kerrykeel, Kilcar, Killybegs, Kilmacrennan
Magheroarty, Manorcunningham, Milford, Moville, Muff
Newtowncunningham
Ramelton, Ranafast, Raphoe, Rathmullan
Stranorlar, St. Johnston
Termon

Flora and Fauna

Algae Seaweed: Morton, O. 2003. The marine macroalgae of County Donegal, Ireland. Bull. Ir. Soc. No. 27: 3–164.

People

County Donegal was the birthplace of Elizabeth Catherine Ball, the mother of Robert Justice.

Oliver Bond, a leading member of the Society of United Irishmen in the 1790's, was a native of St. Johnston.

References

External links

Commemorative Biographical of the Counties of Wayne and Holmes, Ohio 1889

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Last updated on Thursday March 13, 2008 at 08:27:30 PDT (GMT -0700)
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