Interesting Maps

retalivity wrote: »

For Donegal/Tyrconnell, Arranmore and Tory were not planted, in fact there wasnt much land planted west of Letterkenny, thats where all the Irish that remained after the flight of the earls were dispossessed to. Land is/was way too boggy and poor for the planters, so they never bothered with it. Similar story with Mid-derry/tyrone, and the glens of Antrim.
Hence why it is also, still one of the strongest gaeltachts in the country (Donegal), and there is a strong Gael presence in the other areas as well.

I come from a COI family in East Donegal (Raphoe area) and you pretty much summed it there. I believe the county is about 15% protestant compared to national average of about 3% and this is concentrated in a relatively small area east of Letterkenny. This is also an area where the Ulster-Scots dialect is spoken (even amongst Catholics). Relations between the two communities have been pretty peaceful aswell for the most part compared to our neighbours to the east.

From wikipedia: "There is a sizeable minority of Ulster Protestants in Donegal and many Donegal Protestants trace their ancestors to settlers who arrived during the Plantation of Ulster in the early 17th century. The Church of Ireland is the largest Protestant denomination with Presbyterianism in second. The areas of Donegal with the highest percentage of Protestants are The Laggan area of East Donegal around Raphoe, the Finn Valley and areas around Ramelton, Milford and Dunfanaghy – where their proportion reaches up to 30–45 percent. There is also a large Protestant population between Donegal Town and Ballyshannon in the south of the county. In absolute terms, Letterkenny has the largest number of Protestants (over 1000) and is the most Presbyterian town (among those settlements with more than 3000 people) in the Republic of Ireland.[citation needed]"