Raphoe North (; ), or North Raphoe, is a

barony Barony may refer to: * Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron * Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron * Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county of the Republic of Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is the northernmost county of Ireland. The county mostly borders Northern Ireland, sharing only a small b ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. Baronies were mainly

cadastral A cadastre or cadaster ( ) is a comprehensive recording of the real estate or real property's metes and bounds, metes-and-bounds of a country.Jo Henssen, ''Basic Principles of the Main Cadastral Systems in the World,'/ref> Often it is represente ...

rather than administrative units. They acquired modest local taxation and spending functions in the 19th century before being superseded by the

Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 The Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 ( 61 & 62 Vict. c. 37) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland that established a system of local government in Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots diale ...

Etymology

Raphoe North takes its name from

Raphoe Raphoe ( ; ) is a small town in County Donegal in the north-west of Ulster, the northern province in Ireland. It is the main town in the fertile district of East Donegal known as the Laggan. It gave its name to the Barony of Raphoe, which was l ...

town, in Irish ''Ráth Bhoth'', "

ringfort Ringforts or ring forts are small circular fortification, fortified settlements built during the Bronze Age, Iron Age and early Middle Ages up to about the year 1000 AD. They are found in Northern Europe, especially in Ireland. There are ...

of the huts."

Geography

Raphoe North is located in the east of

, to the east of the River Swilly and the west of the

River Foyle The River Foyle () is a river in west Ulster in the northwest of the island of Ireland, which flows from the confluence of the rivers Finn and Mourne at the towns of Lifford in County Donegal, Republic of Ireland, and Strabane in County Ty ...

; both the River Finn and the

Burn Dale The Burn Dale ( Irish: ''An Daoil'', meaning 'the Black One' Patrick McKay, ''A Dictionary of Ulster Place-Names'', p. 54. The Institute of Irish Studies, The Queen's University of Belfast, Belfast, 1999.) is a burn or small river in the east o ...

flow through the barony.

History

Raphoe North was the ancient territory of the Mac Lochlainn, a branch of the

northern Uí Néill The Northern Uí Néill was any of several dynasties in north-western medieval Ireland that claimed descent from a common ancestor, Niall of the Nine Hostages. Other dynasties in central and eastern Ireland who also claimed descent from Niall ar ...

. An area called Cinel Moen belonged to the O'Gormleys until the O'Donnells drove them out in the 14th century. Other tribes in the area were the O'Brollaghan, O'Deeney, O'Toner O'Gallagher, O'Quinn, O'Kenny, O'Cannon and O'Derry. The barony of Raphoe was divided into North and

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

between 1807 and 1821.

List of settlements

Below is a list of settlements in Raphoe North: * Carrigans * Kildrum *

Lifford Lifford (, historically anglicised as ''Liffer'') is the county town of County Donegal, Ireland, the administrative centre of the county and the seat of Donegal County Council, although the town of Letterkenny is often mistaken as holding this ...

Manorcunningham Manorcunningham, or Manor (, meaning "the manor of Fort Cownyngham") is a village and townland in County Donegal, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located from Letterkenny on the main road to Derry. It is known locally and throughout Donegal ...

* Newtowncunningham *

* St Johnston

References

{{County Donegal Baronies of County Donegal