DONEGAL, a small seaport and market town of Co. Donegal, Ireland, at the head of Donegal bay and the mouth of the river Eask. Pop. (1926), 1,104. There are ruins of a Jacobean castle (i6io) on the site of a fortress of the O'Donnells of Tyr connell, and of a Franciscan monastery (founded in 1474), at which were compiled the famous Annals of the Four Masters, a record of Irish history, completed in 1636. Donegal received a charter from James I. The name is said to allude to a settlement of the Northmen. Trade is hindered by shoals, which render difficult the approach to the harbour.