Nestled at the mouth of Donegal Bay, with the Blue Stack Mountains as its backdrop, Donegal Town stands as a reminder of Ireland’s rich and complex history. From its early Gaelic settlements and Viking invasions to its prominence as the seat of the powerful O’Donnell clan, through periods of English control, famine, and modernization, Donegal Town has...
Nestled on the northern coast of the Fanad Peninsula in County Donegal, Ireland, Fanad Lighthouse stands as a beacon of maritime history and architectural beauty. Overlooking the wild Atlantic Ocean, this iconic lighthouse serves not only as a critical navigation aid but also as a cherished historical monument. First lit on March 17, 1817, Fanad Lighthouse was...
Tory Island, located off the northwest coast of County Donegal, Ireland, is home to a unique and mysterious symbol carved into the rugged landscape: the Tau Cross. The origins of the cross are uncertain, but it is believed to date back to the early Christian period, possibly as early as the 7th century. The cross takes its name from the Greek letter...
In the lead up to World War 2, the Irish Defense Forces set up a series of lookout posts called the ‘Coast Watching Service’. 83 of these posts were placed along the coast every 5-15 miles and local volunteers called Coastwatchers kept an eye out. Coast Watchers used work in 8-12 hour shifts, in pairs. One person would man the telephone and the other...
Tir Eoghan the province of Owen was once a great principality, which stretched its frontier from the west of Lough Erne across Lough Neagh to the shores of the Channel by Belfast. In the days when Irelandhad a fate of her own Tyrone was the country of the O’Neill. Centuries after Strongbow centuries after the Norman invaders had become “more Irish than...
William Sydney Clements, the 3rd Earl of Leitrim was an Anglo-Irish nobleman and notorious landlord. Born in 1806, he was educated in Sandhurst and served in Portugal for the British Army between 1826 and 1827. In 1831 he was promoted to captain. Following his father’s death he was promoted to Lutentant-Colonel and retired from the British Army. After...
The third Earl of Leitrim had served in the army, rising to be a colonel, before he succeeded his father in the title. He was a man by no means wholly bad and possessed qualities which might, under happier circumstances, have made him famous absolute courage and a perfectly indomitablc will. Nothing could be less like the careless, absentee landlord who has been the...
From A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, by Samuel Lewis (1837) BALLYSHANNON, a sea-port, market, and posttown (formerly a parliamentary borough), partly in the parish of INNISMACSAINT, but chiefly in that of KILBARRON, barony of TYRHUGH, county of DONEGAL, and province of ULSTER, 35 miles (S. W.) from Lifford, and 102 miles (N. W.) from Dublin; containing...
Rathmullan is a small, picturesque seaside village on the western shores of Lough Swilly in Co. Donegal. In 1607 the Flight of the Earls took place just outside the village in a place called Carolina Bay. This marked the end of the Gaelic chieftain rule in Ireland, a major point in Irish history. Some other points of interest in the village are: The ruins of a...