The Donegal fiddle music has been influenced by recorded music, but this is claimed to have had a positive impact on the tradition.

This geographic ' isolation ' from the rest of the Republic has led to Donegal people maintaining a distinct cultural identity and has been used to market the county with the slogan Up here it's different.

The River Erne, along with other Donegal waterways, has been dammed to produce hydroelectric power.

The existence of this border, cutting Donegal off from her natural hinterlands in Derry City and West Tyrone, has greatly exacerbated the economic difficulties of the county since partition.

Donegal County Council ( which has officially been in existence since 1899 ) has responsibility for local administration, and is headquartered at the County House in Lifford.

Donegal Irish has a strong influence on learnt Irish across Ulster.

Like other areas on the western seaboard of Ireland, Donegal has a distinctive fiddle tradition which is of world renown.

Donegal music has also influenced people not originally from the county including folk and pop singer Paul Brady.

In modern Irish Donegal has produced famous, and sometimes controversial, authors such as the brothers Séamus Ó Grianna and Seosamh Mac Grianna from The Rosses and the contemporary ( and controversial ) Irish-language poet Cathal Ó Searcaigh from Gortahork in Cloughaneely, and where he is known to locals as Gúrú na gCnoc (' the Guru of the Hills ').

Although approximately 85 % of its population is Catholic, County Donegal also has a sizeable Protestant minority.

People from Donegal has also contributed to culture elsewhere.

The Donegal Gaeltacht has traditionally been a very popular destination each summer for young people from Northern Ireland.

There are numerous other clubs in Donegal, but none has achieved the status of Finn Harps.

Although at political odds with the Republic of Ireland, he has some religious followers in two counties ( County Donegal and County Monaghan ).

The Donegal ( or Tyrconnell ) Gaeltacht ( or Gaeltacht Thír Chonaill ) has a population of 24, 744 ( Census 2011 ) and represents 25 % of the total Gaeltacht population.

The town was named either after a small town in County Donegal, Ireland, a suburb of Belfast of the same name in County Antrim, or Greencastle, County Down or possible in consideration of all as the local area has place names of both County Antrim and County Donegal and was settled by Scotch-Irish settlers.

Donegal has an elementary school for its children and for the children of several other area communities.

Musician Caoimhín Mac Aoidh has written a book on the subject, From Mazovia to Meenbanad: The Donegal Mazurkas, in which the history of the musical and dance form is related.

Availability of TV3 in some rural areas has been limited as TV3 have failed to invest in relay stations for most notably in County Donegal, County Kerry and County Cork.

The cliff path has panoramic views across the Strand and Downhill with Donegal in the background.

As the main commercial centre of north Donegal, Letterkenny also has a host of financial service institutions, legal firms and small businesses.

The three week long summer Gaeltacht courses give young Irish people from other parts of the country a chance to learn the Irish language and traditional Irish cultural traditions that are still prevalent in parts of Donegal.

Many people travel to Donegal for the superb golf links — long sandy beaches and extensive dune systems are a feature of the county, and many links courses have been developed.

It is situated on the 3 km long coastline of County Leitrim, on the N15 road between Sligo, County Sligo ( 35 km ) and Bundoran, County Donegal ( 3 km ).

Born in Letterkenny, County Donegal in 1974, Niall Blaney hails from a family with a long political history.

The traditional singer Paddy Tunney relates how Colum " wrote " the song after returning from a literary gathering in Donegal with Herbert Hughes and others.

He collected the funds for the establishment of the Irish College of St Isidore in Rome, for the education of Irish priests, opened 24 June 1625, with four lecturers -— Anthony O ' Hicidh of a famous literary family in Thomond, Martin Breathnach from Donegal, Patrick Fleming from Louth, and John Ponce from Cork.

# REDIRECT Donegal fiddle tradition

The Donegal fiddle tradition is the way of playing the fiddle fiddle that is traditional in County Donegal, Ireland.

Máire Philomena Ní Bhraonáin () was born and grew up as the eldest child of a very musical family in the remote parish of Gweedore ( Gaoth Dobhair ), in Ireland's northernmost county, Donegal, a Gaeltacht area in which the Irish language and tradition continue to flourish.

In the Irish tradition, strathspeys are largely relegated to the Scottish-influenced traditions of Donegal.

There is also a strong tradition of songwriting in the area, Seán McBride ( 1906-1996 ) from Cruit Island wrote the popular song " The Homes of Donegal ".

The River Foyle separates part of County Donegal from parts of both counties Londonderry and Tyrone.

The County Arms is the official coat of arms of both County Donegal and Donegal County Council.

For General elections, the county is divided into two constituencies, Donegal South – West and Donegal North – East, with both having three representatives in Dáil Éireann.

County Donegal is served by both Donegal Airport, located at Carrickfinn in The Rosses in the west of the county, and by City of Derry Airport, located at Eglinton to the east.

Ulster Scots is often spoken in both the Finn Valley and The Laggan district of East Donegal.

He was a brother of Colonel Alexander Montgomery ( 1720 – 1800 ) and a cousin of Colonel Alexander Montgomery ( 1686 – 1729 ), both Members of Parliament for County Donegal.

The earlier Henry was a member of both the Irish House of Commons and the British House of Commons and served as Vice-Admiral of Ulster and as Governor of the counties of Donegal and Londonderry.

He was a General in the British Army, one of the original 28 Irish Representative Peers, Governor of both County Donegal and County Clare and Lord Steward of the Household.

A commemoration was held prior to Dublin's NFL match against Donegal, both of which were held on the Saturday after Stynes ' death.

In addition to the radio stations and newspapers available elsewhere in Donegal, there are several media outlets that are based solely on the peninsula, including two newspapers ( the Inish Times and the Inishowen Independent, both of which are published in Buncrana ) and one online daily local news service ( InishowenNews. com ).

At that time ( and during the rest of both the 17th century and 18th century ), the family gained extensive lands around the village of Mountcharles, near Donegal Town in the south of County Donegal.

Local rural industry had grown to some extent with fish farming in Mulroy Bay and in Lough Swilly as the main local source of employment, albeit for a time in the late 20th century and early 21st century, construction was arguably a major source of local income reflecting the boom in the provision of holiday homes and a general upgrading of the local housing stock and infrastructure both in Fanad and in other areas of Donegal.

From 1977 to 1981 it included parts of County Donegal, but from 1981 until its abolition in 2007 it was again a 4 seat constituency, covering the whole of both counties including the towns of Sligo and Carrick-on-Shannon and many other areas.

McFadden is the son of Annie and the late James McFadden, both native Irish language speakers from the Falcarragh area of northern County Donegal in Ireland.

The 1st Earl was succeeded by his son Hugh, Lord Donegal, but both titles were attainted in 1614.

From four churches in 1951, the denomination has grown to about 60 congregations in Northern Ireland and a total of about 100 throughout the world, including England, Scotland, the Republic of Ireland ( chiefly in both County Donegal and County Monaghan ), Canada, the United States and Australia.

The town lends its name to both the Roman Catholic and Church of Ireland dioceses, which cover most of Donegal, with the exception of Inishowen.

2011 saw Kildare advance to the Leinster semi-final after defeating Meath in the Leinster quarter-final only to be defeated by Dublin. Kildare had a good run in the qualifiers beating teams like Laois, Meath & Derry to advance to the All-Ireland quarter-final to face Ulster champions Donegal which turned to be a very poor performance but the 2nd half was a real contest from both sides with the sides finishing level to drag the game into extra-time only to be defeated by a single point by Donegal.