Template:Infobox Irish Place Letterkenny (Leitir Ceanainn in Irish) is the largest town in County Donegal, in the Republic of Ireland, located 35 miles north of Donegal Town and 20 miles west of Derry in Northern Ireland. Its name is an anglicisation of the Irish language name, which, translated, means "The Slope of the Cannon Family".

Letterkenny had a population of 17,723 (including rural area) at the 2006 census. Despite its size, it is not the administrative centre of Donegal, which is Lifford. It is situated at the base of the Lough Swilly.

Some prominent buildings in Letterkenny include St. Eunan's Cathedral, St. Eunan's College, the Workhouse (now functioning as the town's museum), and St. Conal's Hospital. Letterkenny Institute of Technology is a higher education institution established in the town since 1971.

Letterkenny began as a market in the 17th century (thus starting before the Great Famine) and was the first crossing point of the River Swilly. Letterkenny achieved town status in the early 1920s following the partition of Ireland, when the Irish punt replaced the British Pound Sterling as the national currency of Ireland. This led to many Irish banks that had been previously located in the closest city, Derry (now in Northern Ireland), being forced to open branches in Co. Donegal, including in Letterkenny. Public services and industry followed the banks and led to an economic boom in Letterkenny.

The town's major employers include the General Hospital (which grew from St. Conal's Psychiatric hospital), Pramerica, and the Department of Social and Family Affairs. There has been a significant decline in the manufacturing base, however employment has grown in the service sector. Since 2002 there has been a significant expanision in the retail sector. Allied to this growth has been the development of the cultural infrastructure. This includes the opening of An Grianan theatre and the development of a new arts centre.

Its proximity to the border with Northern Ireland, along with its geographic isolation from the rest of the Republic of Ireland, has led to Letterkenny (and indeed, the rest of Co. Donegal) diverging in attitude substantially from that of either side of the border. The economy in the town is strongly dependent on cross-border trade, and times of economic boom are determined mostly by the currency exchange rate between the Euro and the British Pound.

The town also draws in significant numbers of people to its pubs, restaurants and nightclubs and there is a very significant social scene especially at the weekends. It is a very popular hen and stag destination though the numbers are less than during the 1980s when many buses brought revellers from many parts of Northern Ireland.

It has been and continues to be referred to as the fastest growing town in Europe; however this has never been substantiated. Information from the Central Statistics Office in Ireland and the EU Statistical Office, EuroStat, going as far back as 1977 make no mention of Letterkenny in their reports on the fastest growing towns or cities within either Europe or Ireland.

However, a former President of Letterkenny Chamber of Commerce and Industry remarked once that it could be the fastest growing town in Europe, this was later used by Frank Mc Donald of the Irish Times in an article in 1995 entitled 'The Fastest Growing town in Europe' and from then on was used regularly in the press locally and nationally.

This is not to say that the town has not experienced rapid expansion in recent years. Between 1996 and 2002 the population of the town and its environs has risen from 11,996 to 15,231. This increase by 27.0 % has made Letterkenny one of the fastest growing towns in Ireland, outside the Dublin commuter belt.[1]

The town was, in times past, connected with the once extensive narrow gauge rail network of County Donegal. This provided connections to Derry (and through there to Dublin and Belfast), to Lifford and Strabane, to Gweedore and Burtonport, and to Carndonagh, north of Derry. The rail system was built in the late 19th century, with the last extensions opening in the 1900s. Some of these lines were never profitable, built using British government subsidies, described as an attempt to kill the Home Rule movement "with kindness". Only a couple of decades later, political events resulted in rail companies operating across two jurisdictions where there had previously been one. This had devastating effects on an already fragile economic situation, resulting eventually in the final closure of all parts of the rail system in the area by 1960. See History of rail transport in Ireland.

The railway station was converted to a bus station which, today serves Bus Eireann. However, poor public transport in the region has led to the development of local privately-owned bus companies, which are often based in the surrounding Gaeltacht. The Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway company has continued to operate as a bus company, the Lough Swilly Bus company. These private companies often provide the best transport links in the area.

Letterkenny can receive all national radio stations and television stations as well as some British stations. The local radio station is Highland Radio. It began broadcasting in 1990.

Local newspapers include:

• Donegal Democrat
• Donegal People's Press
• Donegal on Sunday
• Donegal News
• Letterkenny Post[2]
• The Letterkenny People
• Tirconail Tribune

The retail trade in Letterkenny has developed quite a lot over the recent years with a variety of local, national and international shops located throughout the town. There are three shopping centres in the town, The Courtyard, The Letterkenny Shopping Centre and The Forte Shopping Centre. Many well-known High Street stores have branches in these shopping centres.

As the largest town in county Donegal, Letterkenny contains many cultural amenities. The Letterkenny Library and Arts Centre is located on St. Oliver Plunkett Road while the County Museum is located on the High Road. The Glebe Gallery and Corn and Flax Mills are located a few miles outside of the town itself.

An Grianán Theatre provides a venue for live theatre and music with seating for 345. There is also an eight-screen cinema with carparking facilities, while there are many smaller music venues in pubs and hotels around the town.

Letterkenny town caters for most levels of education from primary level up to tertiary level.

Primary Schools (including one Gaelscoil):

• Scoil Colmcille, Convent Road

• Ballyraine School, Ballyraine

• Scoil Mhuire Ghan Smal, Ard O 'Donnell

• Woodlands School, Woodlands

• Glenswilly School, Glenswilly

Secondary Schools (including one Gaelscoil):

• St. Eunan's College, Glencar

• Loreto Convent, Convent Road

• Vocational School, Kilmacrennan Road

• Gaelcholaiste Leitir Ceanainn, High Road

Third-level Institute:

• Letterkenny Institute of Technology[3], Port Road

The Letterkenny Town Park is located at Hospital Roundabout and opened in 1999. The park is laid out with a herb garden, flower beds, mature and new trees, an orchard area, playing areas, bowling green, walks, playgrounds and a Garden of Remberance and has leaf-shaped gates at several entry points.

The Ballyraine Linear Park is situated on the outskirts of the town. It is a park that has been developed over the last few years, and currently features a stone wall along a small walkway and an area of natural wildlife and plants.

• The Polestar is a monument located on the Port Bridge Roundabout on the Derry Road. Its creator is a Derry man, Locky Morris. The project cost approximately €100,000. The site of the Polestar, on the Port Bridge Roundabout, has had an historic past where trade and goods were landed by boat and transported to the surrounding areas by rail and road. The monument is made of 104 timber poles and rises to a height of 12 metres.

• The Celtic Cross is located in Cathedral Square, just across from St. Eunan's Cathedral in the town. It was erected to celebrate 2000 years since the birth of Jesus and is the largest Celtic Cross in Europe.

• The Rabble Children is a monument located at Market Square in the town centre.

• The Chair is also located on Market Square. Built from wood, its design contains various etchings and it has been present for about one year at its current location following its first appearance in the summer of 2005 at the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann.

• The Blacksmiths Ball is located outside Letterkenny Courthouse, between Upper Main Street and Port Road.

• List Of Donegal People
• List of towns in the Republic of Ireland
• Battle of Farsetmore
• Battle of Scarrifholis

• The Letterkenny Guide
• Letterkenny Institute of Technology
• Destination Letterkenny
• Letterkenny Community Centre
• Letterkenny Chamber of Commerce and Industry
• Mayor of Letterkenny
• Letterkenny Map
• Letterkenny RFC