Editing County Donegal (section)

==History==
[[File:KilclooneyDolmen1986.jpg|thumb|left|[[Dolmen|Neolithic portal tomb]] at [[Kilclooney More]]]]
[[File:Doe Castle, Donegal.jpg|thumb|left|[[Doe Castle]], home of the Sweeney clan]]

County Donegal was the home of the once-mighty Clann Dálaigh, whose best-known branch was the Clann Ó Domhnaill, better known in English as the [[O'Donnell dynasty]]. Until around 1600, the O'Donnells were one of Ireland's richest and most powerful native Irish ruling families. Within Ulster, only the Uí Néill (known in English as the O'Neills) of [[Tír Eoghain]] (Tirowen or modern Tyrone) were more powerful. The O'Donnells were Ulster's second most powerful ''clan'' or ruling family from the early 13th century through to the start of the 17th century. For several centuries, the O'Donnells ruled [[Tyrconnell|Tír Chonaill]] (Tyrconnell), a ''[[túath]]'' or [[Gaelic Ireland|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 Thír Chonaill'' (meaning ''King of Tír Chonaill'' in English). Based at [[Donegal Castle]] in ''Dún na nGall'' (modern Donegal Town), the O'Donnell ''Kings of Tír Chonaill'' were traditionally inaugurated, from the 1460s onwards, at Doon Rock near [[Kilmacrennan]]. The O'Donnells' royal or chiefly power was finally ended in what was then the newly created County Donegal in September 1607, following the [[Flight of the Earls]] from Portnamurray, near [[Rathmullan]]. The modern ''County Arms of County Donegal'' (dating from the early 1970s) was influenced by the design of the old O'Donnell royal arms. The ''County Arms'' is the official [[coat of arms]] of both County Donegal and Donegal County Council.

The modern County Donegal was made a [[shire]]<ref name="Connolly2011">{{cite book |last=Connolly |first=S.J. |title=The Oxford Companion to Irish History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xW9LYgEACAAJ |year=2011 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-969186-9 |page=129 |access-date=2 November 2016 |archive-date=27 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170327012004/https://books.google.com/books?id=xW9LYgEACAAJ |url-status=live}}</ref> by order of the English Crown in 1585. The English authorities at [[Dublin Castle]] formed the new county by amalgamating the old Kingdom of Tír Chonaill with the old Lordship of [[Inishowen]]. Although detachments of the [[Irish Army (Kingdom of Ireland)|Royal Irish Army]] were stationed there, the Dublin authorities were unable to establish control over Tír Chonaill and Inishowen until after the [[Siege of Kinsale|Battle of Kinsale]] in 1602. Full control over the new County Donegall was only achieved after the [[Flight of the Earls]] in September 1607. It was the centre of [[O'Doherty's Rebellion]] of 1608 with the key [[Battle of Kilmacrennan]] taking place there. The county was one of those 'planted' during the [[Plantation of Ulster]] from around 1610 onwards. What became the [[Derry|City of Derry]] was officially part of County Donegal up until 1610.<ref name="Brian Lacy 1983"/>

County Donegal was one of the worst affected parts of Ulster during the [[Great Famine (Ireland)|Great Famine]] of the late 1840s in Ireland. Vast swathes of the county were devastated, with many areas becoming permanently depopulated. Vast numbers of County Donegal's people emigrated at this time, chiefly through [[Foyle Port]].

During the [[Irish Civil War]] (1922–1923), Donegal played a strategic role due to its proximity to Northern Ireland, where [[Irish Republican Army (1922–1969)|anti-Treaty forces]] often sought refuge and resupplied. The county's rugged landscape, including areas like [[Dunlewey]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-03-10 |title=Brendan O'Leary will be keynote speaker at 100th anniversary commemoration of Drumboe martyrs |url=https://www.derryjournal.com/heritage-and-retro/heritage/brendan-oleary-will-be-keynote-speaker-at-100th-anniversary-commemoration-of-drumboe-martyrs-4028144 |access-date=2024-12-08 |website=Derry Journal |language=en}}</ref> provided ideal terrain for [[Guerrilla warfare|guerrilla operations]] and hiding arms caches. Local communities were divided in their loyalties, with some supporting anti-Treaty forces by offering shelter and supplies, while [[National Army (Ireland)|Free state forces]] carried out raids to suppress resistance<ref>{{Cite web |last=John2 |date=2018-04-07 |title=New book chronicles the IRA in Donegal during partition |url=https://www.donegaldaily.com/2018/04/07/new-book-chronicles-the-ira-in-donegal-during-partition/ |access-date=2024-12-08 |website=Donegal Daily |language=en-US}}</ref>

The [[Ballymanus mine disaster]] occurred on 10 May 1943 on a beach at Ballymanus, County Donegal, when local villagers attempted to bring ashore an unexploded [[Naval mine|marine mine]].<ref>{{cite web |date=11 May 1999 |title=Victims of Donegal mine tragedy remembered |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/victims-of-donegal-mine-tragedy-remembered-1.183165 |publisher=Irish Times |accessdate=13 April 2018 |archive-date=13 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180413130253/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/victims-of-donegal-mine-tragedy-remembered-1.183165 |url-status=live }}</ref> Eighteen men and boys between the ages of 13 and 34 were killed in the explosion.<ref>{{cite web |date=9 June 2011 |title=Doherty calls for war mine apology |url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0609/1224298640928.html |publisher=Irish Times |accessdate=13 April 2018 |archive-date=24 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024012024/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0609/1224298640928.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== Effects of partition ===
[[File:Donegalcastle.jpg|thumb|left|[[Donegal Castle]], former seat of the [[O'Donnell dynasty]]]]
The [[partition of Ireland]] in the early 1920s severely affected County Donegal. [[Partition (politics)|Partition]] cut the county off, economically and administratively, from Derry, which had acted for centuries as the county's main port, transport hub and financial centre. Derry, together with west [[County Tyrone|Tyrone]], was henceforward in a new, different [[jurisdiction]] which remained within the [[United Kingdom]], officially called [[Northern Ireland]]. Partition also meant that County Donegal was now almost entirely cut off from the rest of the jurisdiction in which it now found itself, the new [[dominion]] called the [[Irish Free State]] (later called Ireland from 1937). The county is physically connected to the rest of the [[Republic of Ireland]] by an internal border of only a few kilometres. The existence of a border cutting County Donegal off from its natural hinterlands in Derry City and West Tyrone greatly exacerbated the economic difficulties of the county after partition. The county's economy is particularly susceptible, like that of Derry City, to the currency fluctuations of the [[euro]] against [[Pound sterling|sterling]].

Added to all this, in the late 20th century, County Donegal was adversely affected by [[The Troubles]] in Northern Ireland. The county suffered several bombings and assassinations. In June 1987, [[Constable]] Samuel McClean, a Donegal man who was a serving member of the [[Royal Ulster Constabulary]] (RUC), was shot dead by the [[Provisional Irish Republican Army]] (Provisional IRA) at his family home near [[Drumkeen]]. In May 1991, the prominent [[Sinn Féin]] politician [[Councillor]] [[Eddie Fullerton]] was assassinated by the Provisional IRA's opponent, the [[Ulster Defence Association]] (UDA), at his home in [[Buncrana]]. This added further to the economic and social difficulties of the county, although the greater economic and administrative integration with Northern Ireland, following the [[Good Friday Agreement]] of April 1998, has been of benefit to the county.

Donegal has been labelled the "forgotten county" by its own politicians, owing to the perception that it is ignored by the government, even in times of crisis.<ref>{{cite news |title=Donegal 'wiped off crisis HQ maps' |url=https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/donegal-wiped-off-crisis-hq-maps-26651587.html |work=[[Irish Independent]] |date=21 April 2010 |access-date=17 May 2021 |archive-date=17 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210517211502/https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/donegal-wiped-off-crisis-hq-maps-26651587.html |url-status=live}}</ref>