Orbis Operadora: Letterkenny

Letterkenny Ireland

Letterkenny, nicknamed “the Cathedral Town,” is the largest and most populous town in County Donegal, Ireland. It lies on the River Swilly in East Donegal in western Ulster and has a population of 19,274. By population, it is the 36th-largest settlement in all of Ireland (ahead of Sligo, Larne, Banbridge, Armagh, and Killarney) and the 15th-largest settlement in the province of Ulster (most of which is in the separate jurisdiction of modern-day Northern Ireland). Together with the nearby city of Derry, Letterkenny is regarded as a regional economic gateway for northwest Ireland. It also serves as an urban gateway to the Ulster Gaeltacht, similar to the way Galway functions for the Connemara Gaeltacht. Letterkenny began as a market town in the early 17th century during the Plantation of Ulster. A castle once stood near the present site of the Cathedral of St. Eunan and St. Columba, County Donegal’s only Catholic cathedral. Letterkenny Castle, built in 1625, was located south of Mount Southwell on Castle Street. The town is home to County Donegal’s largest third-level institution, the Letterkenny Institute of Technology (LYIT), as well as St. Eunan’s College, Highland Radio, and a Hindu temple. Letterkenny was also the original home of the Oatfield Sweet Factory, a confectionery producer; the factory was closed and demolished in 2014. In 1798, Theobald Wolfe Tone was arrested at Laird’s Hotel in the town. In 2015, Letterkenny was named the tidiest town in Ireland.

Recommended airport

City of Derry (LDY)

Nearby destinations

Letterkenny, Ireland

Letterkenny Ireland