History
Although the O'Cannons were the last chieftains of Tir Conaill no evidence of forts or castles belonging to the clan exists in or around the Letterkenny district.
Rory O'Cannon, the last chieftain of the O'Cannon clan was killed in 1248. Godfrey O'Donnell succeeded Rory O'Cannon as King of Tir Conaill. He engaged Maurice Fitzgerald, the Norman Lord, in battle at Credan in North Sligo in 1257 in which both received serious wounds. Godfrey retired to a crannóg a man-made island in Gartan Lake. O'Neill of Tyrone, taking advantage of Godfrey's fatal illness demanded submission, from the Cenel Conail since they lacked a strong chieftain. Godfrey summoned his forces and led them himself although he had to be carried on a litter stretcher. O'Neill and his men were defeated here by the Swilly in 1258. Godfrey died after the battle as he was being carried down Letterkenny's Main Street. He was buried in Conwal Cemetery, located just outside the town on the Glenties/Churchill road. A coffin-shaped cross slab marks his grave.
The receding of the waters of the Atlantic eastwards enabled progress - the building of bridges etc.- and the town of Letterkenny as we know it today developed. It began in the wake of the Ulster Plantation 1610-1611 when 1000 acres were granted to a Scotsman Patrick Crawford who then formed a compact community. The honour of formally launching the town is supposed to go to Sir George Marbury, who married Patrick Crawford's widow, - Crawford died suddenly while on a return visit to his native Scotland.
Understand
Poised at the mouth of the Lough Swilly, the town grew in the 17th century from a small market village to a prosperous town in Donegal and was the Ecclesiastical Seat for the Diocese of Raphoe. Situated on Lough Swilly, the town was an important shipping port in the past with goods such as coal and grain landing here the Swilly river has silted up in recent decades, which makes it difficult to conceive that ships came as far as the "Oldtown Bridge". A railway service also thrived in the town. There is evidence of these long-past activities still, with place names such as Station Road and Port Bridge. Some monuments also commemorate Letterkenny's proud shipping and rail past.
Letterkennyâs name come from the Irish Leitir Ceannain meaning Hillside of the OâCanainn clan, the earliest recorded overlords of this Swilly region. Letterkenny is now a busy working town but with all the major amenities needed to cater for tourists and visitors.
The Main Street, which was once the commercial centre of the town, has now given way to the newer shopping centres that are located on the town's boundries. This makes the Main Street a pleasant, quieter place to stroll about, with more traditional shops in evidence. The Upper Main Street starts at the traffic lights near the town's courthouse and runs to the Market Square, where the Courtyard Shopping Center mall is located. Lower Main Street, which has fewer shops or businesses, runs downhill from the Market Square to the roundabout, known locally as the "Dunne's Stores Roundabout".
Letterkenny was voted as Ireland's tidiest large urban area in the Tidy Towns' competition 2007.