Tír Chonaill is the original Irish name for the county which is now more commonly called Donegal - Dún na nGall, however Donegal people are often referred to by Irish speakers as'Conallaigh'. The name means the 'land of Conall', who was the son of Niall of the Nine hostages, an historical figure. Donegal is renowned for many things, its beauty and grandeur, its remoteness, its lack of a railway system, its fiddlers and its biting wind. I have put together a few thoughts on Donegal, they are entirely subjective, so all praise and criticism should be directed to me and me alone!!
Donegal is a wild place, in all senses of the world. Firstly, it has a most peculiar geographic location. On the map it appears to be squeezed into the north west corner of Ireland. It is isolated, in a way, being the most northerly county of the republic. It is surrounded on two 'sides' by sea, bordering with Northern Ireland on another, with its link to the rest of the republic being in the south of the county. It is perhaps this geographic predicament which has served to enhance and preserve the uniqueness of Donegal and her natives. It is a large and very varied county, with landscape that ranges from the towering sharp peaks of Errigal, to the glens of Colmcille, to the mysterious bogs that cover much of the terrain. Its town are similarly diverse. Bundoran is a famous seaside town attracting herds of tourists in the summer. Dungloe, more prettily named An Chlochán Liath (the grey stepping stones) in Irish, is famous for its Mary from Dungloe contest which aims to find a girl worthy of the title! Letterkenny denotes the sprawling metropolis of the capital town, and at the opposite end of the spectrum Gortahork - Gort an Choirce, is a small 'settlement' clumped around a petrol station, church, shop and a smattering of drinking emporiums. All these different places are attractive to different 'sorts', personally I have been privy to the most north-westerly part of this county known as Gaoth Dobhair, arguably the most desolate and beautiful place that Ireland has to offer. My perceptions of this region have coloured those pertaining to the county as a
The inhabitants of this corner of Donegal are a hardy bunch. The wind there would cut you in two as soon as look at you (there's a proverbial saying for the diaries), hence its reputation as a surfers paradise. It takes a brave soul to venture into the choppy waters of this county -'invigorating' I think they call it! The sea has played a vital part in Donegal life. It has blessed it with its bounty of fish and other marine delicacies such as duilleasc and carrigeen moss, and equally cursed it by taking many lives of this sea-faring community. One local landmark in Bloody Foreland - Cnoc Fola, a hole in the rocks which spews water almost geyser like in the air at high tide, pays tribute to the acknowledged power of the sea in its apt title Poll a' Diabhail, the hole of the devil.
The inhabitants of this recess of Ireland are unquestionably a special tribe. What is most noticeable is their physical appearance - to the trained eye it is sometimes possible to recognise a Donegal face in a Dublin crowd, I kid you not ! In particular, there are many very dark-skinned people in Donegal comparable to Spaniards, possibly descendants of the crews of the Spanish Armada shipwrecked off the coast of this county in 1588. This county contains a large Gaeltacht, an area where Irish is spoken. Although many people find this particular dialect of Irish the most difficult to understand of the four dialects in Ireland, one cannot fail to appreciate its melodious charm. The Donegali (new word for people of Donegal origins) have, in common with other Gaeltacht communities, a strong tendency to substitute English words into their speech. Thus you might hear a sentence such as this;
"Bhí mé díreach ag wonderáil an dtabhfadh tusa lift dom isteach sa town ?"
So, even those without a word in their heads (another one for the diaries) could probably grasp bits of the conversation. Personally, the most baffling and wondrous element of Donegal Irish is the word 'bhal', which can mean five or six different things depending on its intonation and context! (and you thought only the Chinese were that sophisticated). After many years of visiting this magnificent place, I have yet to master the correct use of the word.
It is the Donegal dialect of Irish that is most similar to the Scottish Gàidhlig. The Donegali have many connections with Scotland. Historically, it was common practice for the men of Donegal to go labouring in Scotland to earn money to feed their families back home. The fishing basis of many Donegal household economies enabled further contacts between the two communities. The persistence of many Scottishisms in Donegal speak today such as the bray (the hill), or ay (yes), is testament to these ties. The unique Donegal fiddling style, characterised by its aggressiveness, has been compared to the Cape Breton style of Scottish fiddling. And if they're not fiddling, the Donegali are singing. Also compared to the Scottish style, the haunting sean-nós songs are guaranteed to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up in salute to their displays of naked emotion.
There is no rail system in the county of Donegal, so if you want to visit you will have to brave a long drive, but you will reap the rewards. A sense of history seems to pervade everywhere. The whistling wind is a constant reminder that you are at the mercy of nature, and you sense that if ghosts do exist, there are surely a few wandering the glens of Tír Chonaill ! Many people visit this region from much busier parts of the world, because in it they experience a return to nature, and silence louder than any I have ever heard. If it's a spiritual experience that you're after, man, this is the place for you. And when your soul is all replenished, don't go home... The Donegali will entertain you with stories and songs long after the sun has set. Be sure to bring your torch with you for the walk home...the roads are potholed and dark !!