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Donegal
Castle began by the O'Donnell family, lords of Tyrconnel,
as a great tower castle in the late 15th century. The
tower, built on a bend in the River Eske, was 35 x 55
feet in size, with walls eight feet thick. Hugh Roe O'Donnell
was forced to set fire to his tower to keep it out of
English hands about 1600, when capture by Mountjoy, the
Earl of Essex' successor, seemed imminent. O'Donnell left
to fight in Kinsale and was later exiled and died in
Spain. English Captain Basil Brooke came to Ireland in
1598. He fought valiently in Munster and in the conquest
of Ulster. For his service he was appointed servitor of
Ulster Plantation, and in 1616 was knighted by James I.
In 1623 Sir Basil was granted the borough of Donegal
including the strong turreted tower that had been the
castle of the O'Donnell chiefs.
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