As promised, having recently visited up there, we bring you something- a blas of the place, its history and its culture. We are mindful as we write of the tragic deaths of so many people in an horrific road accident in the Buncrana/Inishowen areas. Ar Dheis De go raibh said uilig.
County Donegal is located within the Province of Ulster. It was named after the town of Donegal /Dún na nGall, derived from meaning the fort of the foreigner. In terms of size and area, it is the largest county in Ulster, and the fourth largest on the island of Ireland. Throughout its history, it has sometimes been referred to as County Tirconaill or County Tirconnell.The former was used as its official name during 1922–1927. This is in reference to both the old tuath of Tir Chonaill and the earldom that succeeded it. Irish speakers there usually refer to themselves as Conallaigh. Uniquely, County Donegal shares a border with only one other county in the Republic, County Leitrim. The majority of its land border is shared with the North (the counties of Derry, Tyrone and Fermanagh). This apparent economic isolation has led to Donegal people maintaining a distinct cultural identity and has been used to market the county with the slogan “Up here it’s different”. It has been labelled the “forgotten county” by its own politicians due to it being ignored, they repeatedly claim, by successive governments. Nevertheless the county is seen as being a bastion of an Cultuir Ghaelach and the Irish Language, holding the second-largest Gaeltacht area in the country with a population of over 25,000, Despite being named after Donegal Town and Lifford being the County Town, the largest town is Letterkenny.
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