County Donegal (pronounced /ˌdʌnəˈgɔːl/; Irish: Contae Dh�n na nGall. Sometimes unofficially known in Irish as T�r Chonaill) is a county located in the west of the Province of Ulster, in the northwest of Ireland. It is one of three counties in the Province of Ulster that does not form part of Northern Ireland. It is the most northern county in all of Ireland, and although it has a very strong Ulster identity, the county is part of the Republic of Ireland. County Donegal is the largest county in Ulster. The name 'Donegal' comes from the Irish, meaning 'The Fort of the Foreigners'. The county was named after the former administrative centre of Donegal Town, the old stronghold of the O'Donnell royal family in the south of the county. When first created, it was sometimes referred to as County Tyrconnell (Irish: T�r Chonaill), after both the old original T�r Chonaill kingdom and the Tyrconnell earldom that succeeded it. Calling the whole county T�r Chonaill is technically incorrect as the Inishowen Peninsula (Irish: Inis Eoghain) is historically distinct from T�r Chonaill.

Uniquely, Donegal shares a border with only one county in the Republic of Ireland, County Leitrim in north Connacht. The rest of its land border is shared with the United Kingdom (the Northern Irish counties of Londonderry, Tyrone and Fermanagh). This apparent isolation has led to Donegal people and their customs being considered distinct from the rest of the country and has been used to market the county with the slogan Up here it's different.[1] As regards its culture and traditions, County Donegal has much more in common with Northern Ireland than it does with the rest of the Republic of Ireland. The people of County Donegal are famous for their 'accent' (or more correctly 'accents'), which is very much an Ulster accent.[citation needed] Despite Lifford being the county town (and there also being a Donegal town), the largest town is Letterkenny.

County Donegal has always had a very strong and close relationship with the City of Derry, the unofficial regional 'capital' of the North-West of Ireland. Before circa 1600, Derry was considered part of the Inishowen Peninsula. Derry has acted for centuries as the main economic and transport hub and sea-port for both County Donegal and West Tyrone. This was especially so before the rapid growth and development of nearby Letterkenny from the late 1960s. Nowadays, the vast majority of the Catholic population of the City of Derry are of County Donegal ancestry. Huge numbers of people from County Donegal work - and often live - in Derry. Likewise, many natives of Derry City also work - and often live - in County Donegal. In addition, large numbers of young Donegal people attend secondary schools in Derry and/or study at the city's third-level institutions, especially Magee College (part of the University of Ulster) and North-West Regional College (popularly known as Derry Tech). Both Donegal County Council and Derry City Council co-operate closely with each other on many projects and initiatives.

source: Wikipedia County Donegal