DONEGAL CASTLE
From Atlas and Cyclopedia of Ireland (1900)
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Description of County Donegal | Donegal Castle | Derrybeg Chapel | Moville | Bundoran | Ballyshannon Bridge | Donegal Map
DONEGAL CASTLE.—The town of Donegal is beautifully situated on a bay of the same name, and does a thriving trade. To the tourist, the great object of attraction is its splendid old castle, the ancient seat of the O'Donnells, lords of Tirconnell. The ruin, compared with others in the island, is in a tolerably good state of preservation, and from what remains it must have been a noble mansion, and worthy of the rank of these once powerful chieftains. Two magnificent sculptured chimneypieces, in the style of James I., still remain in a very perfect state. The grand hall on the ground floor, is arched, from which several smaller apartments open; and upstairs the grand banqueting hall was lit by several Gothic windows, which look out upon the bay; and at one end are the remains of a great bay window the entire height of the chamber, which bespeaks its ancient magnificence. This ruin derives a melancholy interest from the affecting history of the life and adventures of Red Hugh, the last of the powerful line of the princes of Tirconnell and lords of Donegal.
Donegal Castle
Description of County Donegal | Donegal Castle | Derrybeg Chapel | Moville | Bundoran | Ballyshannon Bridge | Donegal Map