Siege of Donegal

Donegal resisted Hugh Roe O'Donnell's siege in 1601 because Niall Garve O'Donnell held it for the Crown, pitting one branch of the same name against the other. A gunpowder accident destroyed Donegal Abbey, and Conn O'Donnell died fighting for the Crown. Hugh Roe left southward for Kinsale, believing Spanish aid would decide Ireland; instead Crown troops used Donegal to take Ballyshannon. The castle survived the man who built its fame.