Dun na nGall/ Donegal
Located on the northwest most corner of Ireland. This land is oft forgotten by the rest of the country, but is the birthplace of many a famous some, legend, and myth. From Glen Colmcille, to Loch Finn, to the Poison Glenn, this is a land swathed in myth and legend, even by Irish standards.
It's origins in history long lost to time, Donegal was traditionally counted as part of Ulster, Donegal was for centuries ruled by the norther O'Niel Clan. One of the most prominent families of Irish history. Including many High Kings and Princes among their number. St. Columba (of Loch Ness fame) was originally, a prince of the O'Neill family. However centuries later the protestant ascendancy that gained a stranglehold over Ireland never gained a physical majority among the county's population, causing it's people to distance themselves from their historic kingdom. This split was formalised by the provisional treaty of 1917 which saw the six protestant counties of Ulster separate from the rest of Ireland to remain in the United Kingdom. This however saw something of a reverse when, in 1925, the British Revolution saw the British Government abandon the home nations. Ireland took advantage of the chaos to occupy the rest of Ulster they had been forced to relinquish. Though the local protestant population was outraged by this action, with the British powerless to intervene there was nothing profitable to be done but make the best of what they saw as a dire situation. In Donegal the news of the reunion was treated with as much joy as in the rest of Ireland. Thus is, briefly, the history of this fabled land.
Everything about Donegal lends to its mystic nature. In contrast to the rest of Ireland, it is dominated by highlands. Mountains, and glens are the norm in this land, many of which hold lakes known as lochs, as they are in Scotland. in may way this place has more in common with its cousin across the sea than the lowlands to the south and east. This terrain also leaves Donegal isolated, there are two ways into Donegal, one in the south; through Donegal Town itself, or in the north; via Derry, and Letterkenny. This isolation makes Donegal seem far away and mystical place, even to other Irish. Something only enhanced by its high proportion of Gaelic speakers; and a kind of fondness the locas have for living in, what seems to may, even them, a land where faeries may still wander.
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