Co. Donegal Local Info:

Here you will find relevent details of what to do in the area, local shops and ameneties, tourist attractions and more.

Located in the beautiful seaside village of Shrove, overlooking the mouth of Lough Foyle and the Atlantic Ocean and close to the fishing village of Greencastle. Less than 100 yards from a blue flag beach which is suitable for bathing, surfing and body boarding. 4 mins drive from Greencastle golf course.

A short drive to historic Derry City. The house makes an ideal base for a touring holiday of the Inishowen peninsula and with a car ferry running frequently (10 mins crossing) operating from the nearby town of Greencastle to Magilligan in Northern Ireland from which you can explore the beautiful and famous Antrim coast including the towns of Portrush and Portstewart as well as The Giants Causeway. Greencastle village has some lively pubs and is home to one of Donegal's finest seafood restaurants. 10 mins drive to Moville which offers a variety of shops, traditional Irish pubs and live music.

County Donegal (Irish: Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county in the northwest of Ireland steeped in Irish culture. It is one of three counties in the province of Ulster that does not form part of Northern Ireland. The name "Donegal" comes from the Irish, meaning "the fort of the foreigners". The county was named after the former administrative centre of Donegal Town. When first created, it was sometimes referred to as County Tyrconnel (Irish: Tír Chonaill), after the Tyrconnel earldom it succeeded. Calling the whole county Tír Conaill is technically incorrect as the Inishowen peninsula (Irish: Inis Eoghain) was historically distinct from Tír Chonaill.

Uniquely, Donegal only shares a border with one county in the Republic of Ireland, named County Leitrim in north Connacht. The rest of its land border is shared with the Northern Irish counties of Londonderry, Tyrone and Fermanagh. This apparent isolation has led to Donegal people and their customs being considered distinct from the rest of the country and has been used to market the county with the slogan Up here it's different. Despite Lifford being the county town (and there also being a Donegal town), the largest town is Letterkenny.

The variant of the Irish language spoken in Donegal is distinctive, and shares traits with Scottish Gaelic. The Irish spoken in the Donegal Gaeltacht (Irish speaking area) is of the West Ulster dialect, while Inishowen, which became English-speaking in the early 20th century, used the East Ulster dialect. Scots is still spoken to a degree in the Laggan district of east Donegal.

Donegal Irish has a strong influence on Irish speakers across Ulster, who find themselves speaking a dialect noticeably different from the Irish most commonly spoken and understood in Dublin.

Like other areas of western Ireland, Donegal has a distinctive fiddle tradition which is of world renown. Donegal is also well known for its songs which have, like the instrumental music, a distinctive sound. Donegal musical artists such as the bands Clannad and Altan and solo artist Enya, all from Gweedore, have had international success with traditional or traditional flavoured music. Donegal music has also influenced people not originally from the county including folk and pop singer Paul Brady. Popular music is also common, the county's most famous rock artist being the Ballyshannon born Rory Gallagher.