RSS
Home | Place Ireland | County Donegal
|
|
|
At various times in its history, it has been known as County Tirconaill, County Tirconnell or County Tyrconnell ( ). The former was used as its official name during 1922 � 1927. This is in reference to both the old túath of Tír Chonaill and the earldom that succeeded it. 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 Northern Irish counties of County Londonderry, County Tyrone and County 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, owing to the increasing regularity with which it is ignored by the Irish Government, even in times of crisis. Much of the county is seen as being a bastion of Gaelic culture and the Irish language, the county holding the second-largest Gaeltacht area in the country with a population of 24,504. While the largest town is Letterkenny by population, Lifford is the county town. Both Letterkenny and the nearby City of Derry form the main economic axis of the North-West of Ireland. |
