DONEGAL — Donegal,glebe (donegal Ed)

Described in the Urban Survey of Donegal as 'The town is located at the head of Donegal Bay overlooking the wide shallow estuary of the river Eske. The placename is derived from Dun na Ngall, "the fort of the foreigners". These "foreigners" are usually presumed to be the Vikings who were active around the coast of Donegal in the mid ninth century and again in the 920s and 930s. The nature of this fort and whether or not is represents Scandinavian settlement remain unknown (Bradley & Dunne 1989, 30). Donegal rose to prominence in the later middle ages as one of the principal residences of O Donnell lords of Tirconnell. The castle (DG093-013001-) was constructed in or around 1474 by Hugh Roe O'Donnell (d. 1505) at much the same time as the Franciscan friary (DG093-013002-) was established a short distance to the south. In 1566 Sir Henry Sidney described the castle as "one of the greatest that ever I saw in Ireland in any Irishman's lands and would appear in good keeping; one of the fairest situated in good soil and so nigh a portable water as a boat of ten tons could come within twenty yards of it". Increasing English pressure to gain a foothold in Donegal caused it to be burned in 1588 so that it could not be used as a garrison fort. The English force instead garrisoned the friary. In 1592, when Red Hugh O'Donnell returned after his escape from Dublin Castle, the English garrison was forced to flee and both castle and friary were rebuilt. The landing of Dowcra's forces, under Niall garbh O'Donnell, in 1601 resulted in the capture of the friary and the return of a garrison which Red Hugh O'Donnell failed to eject because it could be provisioned directly by sea. After the flight of the earls in 1607 and the escheat of the county, the land around Donegal town was granted to Capt Basil Brooke, who had been active in the Ulster wars. Brooke began to settle the land and in 1611 Donegal was described by Pynnar as follows : We found a fair bawn built, with flankers, a parapet, and a walk on the top 15 feet high. Within the bawn is a strong house, built by Captain Basil Brooke….Many families of English, Scottish, and irish are inhabiting the town, who built them good copled houses after the manner of the Pale (Butlin 1977, 89). On 13 march 1612 Brooke received a grant : To hold a Thursday market and a fair on the feast of St Peter, and the day after, yearly at Donegal; with courts of pie-powder; power to appoint a clerk of the market, etc. rent 6s. 8d.; No person to sell goods by retail within 3 miles of the castle of Donegal, unless they were planted there by the said Basil, or were inhabitants of the said town of Donegal, on forfeiture of the said goods; he to set apart a convenient place for the site of the said town to be built; for the market-place, and for the church and church-yard; the said borough to consist of 20 burgesses, besides cottagers and other inferior inhabitants, to be accomodated with houses and lands within four years; 30a to be appointed for the Common to be called the burgess-field, with 2a. More, viz. half an acre for the building of a public school and one and a half for the exercise of the scholars (Ir. Rec Comm 1830, 219-20). As a result of this grant Brooke succeeded in attracting sufficient settlers and the town was incorporated on 17 February 1613. The town was never particularly large and in the census if c. 1659 its adult population was given as 24 English and Scots together with 71 Irish making a total of 95. In 1689 the town was burned by Jacobites under the Duke of Berwick but he failed to capture the castle (Bradley & Dunne 1989, 31-2). The town of Donegal is described in the Urban Survey as 'The town was laid out around a triangular diamond placed to the south of the castle. Three streets led from the diamond: Bridge St, Main St and Quay St. Tyrconnell St is obviously an intrusion into this layout. The burgage plot pattern still survives within the town and it is very clear on the O.S. 25" map. In 1612 Basil Brooke was granted the right to hold a weekly market at Donegal. The diamond was evidently the market place of the new town. Pynnar's account of 1611, quoted above, indicates that the settlers were building houses in the town after the manner of the Pale. This presumably indicates that some were half-timbered while others were stone built. Nothing remains of pre-1700 housing within the town' (Bradley & Dunne 1989, 33-4). Excavation licence number 00E0697 Monitoring was carried out by by Declan Moore of Moore Archaeological and Environmental Services Ltd on the site of the proposed conversion and extension to the rear of the AIB building at the Diamond, Donegal, Co. Donegal. Monitoring was carried out between 6 and 28 October 2000. The site is bounded to the west by a high wall, separating it from a roadway and the Eske River. It is located on a gently rising slope. To the north and south it is bounded by the Abbey Hotel and the Central Hotel respectively. Bedrock was sealed by a series of compact, yellow/brown, sandy clays, which in turn underlay mixed deposits of dark brown silt and gravel with frequent inclusions of red brick. This deposit appears to represent deliberate deposition to level up the existing slope and was subsequently used as a yard and later as a parking area. This deposit was overlain by a layer of rounded cobbles and tarmac. The site was truncated throughout by a number of modern pipelines and was heavily disturbed. Nothing of archaeological significance was observed. (Excavations Bulletin 2000) Excavation licence number 00E0243 and ext. The site occupies an area measuring 35m east-west by 34m that lies on the west side of Quay Street and fronts onto the river estuary to the west. The first edition OS 6-inch map shows that the late 18th/early 19th-century quay wall crosses the west side of the site but is now hidden behind more modern reclamation. Three trenches were mechanically excavated iby Alan Hayden, of Archaeological Projects Ltd in April 2000. Bedrock stepped down from 1.4m to 3.5m below modern ground level from east to west. It was overlain by water-deposited silt, which contained 18th-century finds. The top of this deposit lay at 2m below modern ground level. A large stone wall crossed the centre of the site parallel to the later 18th-century one. Its top stood to a maximum height of 1m below modern ground level. The site and wall were subsequently fully exposed and recorded during archaeological excavation undertaken in early June 2000. It was the earliest structure on the site. The height of the bedrock at the east side of the site suggested that this was the first quay wall built in the area. The wall survived up to 2m in height and was built against one of the bedrock steps. Its rear face was poorly built, but the west face, which faced the water, was finely wrought of large blocks of stone. Eighteenth-century deposits occurred in places beneath the rear face and also against both sides of the wall. It is hoped that the wall will be rebuilt at a higher level in the proposed development. (Excavations Bulletin 2000) Excavation licence number 00E0697 ext. Monitoring was carried out by Declan Moore of Moore Archaeological and Environmental Services Ltd on the site of the proposed conversion and extension of the AIB building on the Diamond, Donegal town. Phase 1 of the proposed development entailed the excavation of foundation trenches and new drains to the rear of the existing building (Excavations 2000, No. 171). The second phase of monitoring involved the demolition of existing structures to the rear of the main bank building and involved no further excavations. Phase 3 involved the reduction of the floor in the existing building and subsequent excavation of two column bases. The site is bounded to the west by a high wall, separating the proposed development from a roadway and the Eske River. It is on a gently rising slope. To the north and south, the Abbey Hotel and the Central Hot