Places of Interest
Lifford has several noted buildings. One is the Old Courthouse & Museum, located across from the County House, the HQ of Donegal County Council, in The Diamond area of the town. The museum houses a permanent display of O'Donnell clan documents and artefacts, as well as minute books from various institutes in Donegal. Also noteworthy is Cavanacor House on the outskirts of the town - which is the ancestral home of the 11th President of the United States of America, James Knox Polk. His great, great, great grandmother (Magdelene Tasker) was born here in 1634, she later married Capt. Robert Bruce Pollock and emigrated to the USA. King James II dined at Cavanacor House on his way to the siege of Derry in 1689.
Another building of note is the Prior Endowed School. It was built in 1880 to cater for local Protestant children with monies bequeathed by Miss Eleanor Prior from Ballindrait. The Prior school closed in 1972, being amalgamated with the Royal School in Raphoe to create the "Royal & Prior Comprehensive School". The school and grounds were first taken over by the then Irish Department of Posts and Telegraphs, and later (from 1974) by the Irish Defence Forces for use as a military barracks. It is currently occupied by ‘A’ Company, 28 Infantry Battalion of the Irish Army.
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