History
The rich agricultural land around Raphoe has been inhabited and cultivated for thousands of years,and evidence of this can be seen through monuments such as the Beltany stone circle, just outside the town. The stone circle is one of the largest in Ireland with a diameter of 44 metres (165 feet) and made up of more than sixty stones in all. The site is believed to date to around 2000 BC, and that it was originally an enclosed cairn. Its name is believed to be linked to the Celtic festival of fertility known as 'Beltane'.
Around 550 AD Columba (also known as Colmcille), one of the three patron saints of Ireland, founded a monastic settlement in the area. This site was further developed by his kinsman Eunan, who gives his name to the town's cathedral and is patron saint of the Diocese of Raphoe.
In 1198, John de Courcy, a Norman knight who had invaded Ulster in 1177, returned to County Donegal to devastate Inishowen and on his way destroyed churches at Ardstraw, County Tyrone and Raphoe.
The design of the modern town is traced to the Ulster Plantation of the early 17th century, when the town was granted to English and Scottish settlers. It was these settlers who laid out the town with the 'Diamond' at its centre, in a similar manner to other Plantation towns like Derry and Donegal.
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