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Civil Parishes of County Donegal

There are 52 civil parishes in County Donegal. The county's name derives for the Irish Dhún na nGall meaning "fort of the foreigners". Donegal is part of the Border Region and is in the province of Ulster. Its county town is Donegal situated in the south of the county. The population of county Donegal was 161,137 according to the 2011 census. The county was previously known as Tyrconnell (Tír Chonaill), after the historic area of the same name.

County Donegal is famous for being the home of the once mighty Clann Dálaigh, whose most famous branch were the Clann Ó Domhnaill, also known as the O'Donnell Clan. Until around 1600, the O'Donnells were one of Ireland's richest and most powerful Gaelic ruling-families. Within the Province of Ulster only the Clann Uí Néill (O'Neill Clan) of modern County 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 Tír Chonaill, a Gaelic kingdom in West Ulster that covered almost all of modern County Donegal. Based at Donegal Castle in Dún na nGall ( Donegal Town), the O'Donnell Kings of Tír Chonaill were traditionally inaugurated at Doon Rock near Kilmacrenan. O'Donnell 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 near Rathmullan.
The modern County Donegal was shired 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. However, the English authorities were unable to establish control over Tír Chonaill and Inishowen until after the Battle of Kinsale in 1602. Full control over the new County Donegal was only achieved after the Flight of the Earls in September 1607. The county was one of those 'planted' during the Plantation of Ulster from around 1610 onwards.

Map of County Donegal Civil Parishes