Lifford
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Lifford Leifear
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| Town | |
The Three Coins sculpture, Lifford
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 Lifford
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| Coordinates: 54°50′08″N 7°28′40″W / 54.835599°N 7.477913°WCoordinates: 54°50′08″N 7°28′40″W / 54.835599°N 7.477913°W | |
| Country |
 Ireland
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| Province |
 Ulster
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| County | County Donegal |
| Dáil Éireann | Donegal |
| Elevation | 6 m (20 ft) |
| Population (2011) | |
| • Urban | 1,658 |
| Irish Grid Reference | H330984 |
| Dialing code | +353 (0)74 |
| Website | www |
Lifford (Irish: Leifear, historically anglicised as Liffer) is the county town of County Donegal, Ireland. It is the administrative capital of the county and the seat of Donegal County Council, although the town of Letterkenny is often mistaken for fulfilling this role.
Lifford lies in the Finn Valley area of East Donegal where the River Finn meets the River Mourne to create the River Foyle. The Burn Deele (also spelled as the Burn Dale), a burn (small river), flows into the River Foyle just north of Lifford.
The town grew up around a castle built there by Manghus Ó Domhnaill, ruler of Tír Chonaill (mostly modern County Donegal), in the 16th century. It later became a British Army garrison town until Ireland won independence as a dominion in early December 1922. It lies across the River Foyle from Strabane (in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland) and is linked to that town by Lifford Bridge. Manus O'Donnell began building the castle in 1527 on the Wednesday after St. Brendan's day (Saint Brendan's feast day is celebrated on May 16). He completed the masonry and woodwork by the end of that summer even though the O’Neill’s of Tyrone were at war with him. In 1543 the castle of Leithbher was given to Cahir (the son of Donnell Balbh) O'Gallagher to be guarded for the O’Donnell clan. He then proceeded to banish the people loyal to the O’Donnell’s from the castle so that he could keep it for himself. In 1544 Calvagh, the son of O'Donnell, went to the English Lord Justice, and brought back English soldiers with him to Tirconnell, the olden name for County Donegal. O'Donnell, Calvagh, and these men went with ‘ordnance and engines for taking towns’ to the castle of Lifford to take it back from the descendants of the O'Gallaghers.
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Wikipedia