Ballyshannon

Ballyshannon (Irish: Béal Átha Seanaidh, meaning "The Mouth of Seannachs ford") is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. It is located at the southern end of the county where the N3 and N15 cross the River Erne, and claims to be the oldest town in Ireland.

Location

Ballyshannon, which means "The Mouth of Seannach's Ford", after a fifth-century warrior, Seannach, who was slain there, lies at the mouth of the river Erne. Just west of the town, the Erne widens and its waters meander over a long sandy estuary. The northern bank of the river rises steeply away from the riverbank, while the southern bank is flat with a small cliff that runs parallel to the river. From its idyllic setting, the town looks out over the estuary and has panoramic views of mountains, lakes and forests.

History

Archaeological sites dating as far back as the Neolithic period (4000 BC – 2500 BC) have been excavated in Ballyshannon and surrounding areas, representing settlement and ritual activity from early periods of human settlement. Finds have ranged from fulachta fiadh (burnt mounds) dating from the Bronze Age (2500–500 BC), to a possible brushwood trackway thought to date to an earlier Neolithic period, to the recent discovery of a previously unknown medieval church and cemetery containing hundreds of skeletons thought to date from between 1100 and 1400. This site yielded numerous artefacts including silver long cross pennies and halfpennies dating from the reign of Henry III (1251–1276) and Edward I (c.1280–1302). Other finds included bone beads, shroud pins, and pieces of quartz which were found placed in the hands of many of the skeletons.

County Donegal

County Donegal (pronounced /ˈdʌnᵻɡɔːl/ or /ˌdʌnᵻˈɡɔːl/; Irish: Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is in the province of Ulster. It is named after the town of Donegal (Dún na nGall) in the south of the county. Donegal County Council is the local council for the county and Lifford serves as the county town. The population of the county was 161,137 according to the 2011 census. It has also been known as (County) Tyrconnell (Tír Chonaill), after the historic territory of the same name.

Geography and political subdivisions

In terms of size and area, it is the largest county in Ulster and the fourth-largest county in all of Ireland. Uniquely, County Donegal shares a small border with only one other county in the Republic of Ireland – County Leitrim. The greater part of its land border is shared with three counties of Northern Ireland: County Londonderry, County Tyrone and County Fermanagh. This geographic isolation from the rest of the Republic 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". While Lifford is the county town, Letterkenny is by far the largest town in the county with a population of 19,588. Letterkenny and the nearby city of Derry form the main economic axis of the northwest of Ireland. Indeed, what became the City of Derry was officially part of County Donegal up until 1610.