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At first
glance the Keep at Donegal Castle seems a little
on the small size but the Castle has undergone a
fine restoration which makes it a very
interesting Castle indeed.
Photo
Above - The entrance gate to Donegal
Castle is on Castle Street, near thePost
Office. |
Recognizing
Castles tend to be near the center of the
old town we drove past urbanized Donegal
and headed straight for the city's main
square. We figured we would see signs
pointing us to Castle parking as we
approached the town center; we did not.
Donegal’s old town isn't that big so
after driving back & forth a few
times we decided it was time to park and
ask directions. Pulling in to the harbor
parking we noticed Donegal's tourist
office near the entrance. |
More pages on
Donegal Castle:
will be
forthcoming |
| Outside Links:
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Photo
above - The restored Keep at Donegal
Castle and the attached ruins of the wing
added by Sir Basil Brooke |
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What
should we find out side the Tourist Office but a
town map showing us the way to the Castle;
apparently, there is not any parking specifically
for Castle visitors.
Photo above - Inside Donegal Castle.
| The first Tower
Castle, constructed by Red Hugh
O'Donnell, was built in the 1400's AD. During the 9-year
war, the O'Donnell's were forced to
abandon the Castle at Donegal. Before
leaving, they did their best to make the
Castle as unusable to the English as
possible, destroying as much as the
castle as they could. After the Irish
defeat, Sir Basil Brooke took charge of
Donegal for the English and on the
remains of the castle added an additional
floor. He also added an attached wing to
the castle, which was architecturally,
similar to the manor homes of England. Figure
Right - An approximate rendering of
O'Donnell's Castle Keep prior to the
changes by Sir Basil Brooke.
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