Visit Donegal.

Donegal is a town in County Donegal, in the north-west of Ireland. Situated at the foot of the Bluestack Mountains and Lough Eske, Donegal Town is the perfect place to visit the region! The activities on offer will delight hikers, surfers and golfers, as well as lovers of the great outdoors!

History of Donegal Town

From the first inhabitants to the Anglo-Irish conflict

The site of Donegal is said to have been inhabited since prehistoric times by a population that left behind a wealth of remains. There are also traces of Viking fortifications, including a fortress destroyed in 1159 by Muirchertach MacLochlainn, then High King of Ireland. From century to century, the site gradually grew and saw a real town develop on these lands. As early as the 15th century, the town fell into the hands of the clan of Hugh O’Donnell, one of the wealthiest Irish families of the time, who constantly asserted their opposition to British colonialism on Irish lands.

Highly influential in the town, the O’Donnell family built a sumptuous castle in 1474, where they lived until the Flight of the Earls in 1607, when the family was forced to flee the British and abandon the castle. From then on, the keys to the town were given to British captain Basil Brooke, who reinvested the castle after many years devoted to the complete renovation of the fortress.
The town grows, then suffers the Great Famine…
In the 17th century, Donegal changed hands to the Gore family, Earls of Aran. This wealthy family embarked on numerous expansion projects, giving Donegal the image we know today.

Unfortunately, the town did not escape the Great Famine (1845-1848) and saw a large part of its population decimated by food shortages.

Today, Donegal is one of the most dynamic towns in the county, along with Letterkenny. The town thrives on tourism and the manufacture of Irish tweed, a high-quality fabric renowned the world over.