County Donegal ( ; ) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconnell (), after the historic territory of the same name, on which it was based. Donegal County Council is the local council and Lifford the county town. The population was 166,321 at the 2022 census. Name County Donegal is named after the town of Donegal () in the south of the county. It has also been known by the alternative name County Tyrconnell, Tirconnell or Tirconaill (, meaning 'Land of Conall'). The latter was its official name between 1922 and 1927. This is in reference to the túath or Gaelic kingdom of Tír Chonaill (which the county was based on) and the earldom that succeeded it. History County Donegal was the home of the once-mighty Clann Dálaigh, whose best-known branch was the Clann Ó Domhnaill, better known in English as the O'Donnell dynasty. Until around 1600, the O'Donnells were one of Ireland's richest and most powerful native Irish ruling families. Within Ulster, only the Uí Néill (known in English as the O'Neills) of Tír Eoghain (Tyrone) were more powerful. The O'Donnells were Ulster's second most powerful clan or ruling family from the early 13th century through to the start of the 17th century. For several centuries, the O'Donnells ruled Tír Chonaill (Tyrconnell), a túath or Gaelic kingdom in west Ulster that covered almost all of modern County Donegal. The head of the O'Donnell family had the titles An Ó Domhnaill (meaning The O'Donnell in English) and Rí Thír Chonaill (meaning King of Tír Chonaill in English). Based at Donegal Castle in Dún na nGall (modern Donegal Town), the O'Donnell Kings of Tír Chonaill were traditionally inaugurated, from the 1460s onwards, at Doon Rock near Kilmacrennan. The O'Donnell's royal or chiefly power was finally ended in what was then the newly created County Donegal in September 1607, following the Flight of the Earls from Portnamurray, near Rathmullan. The modern County Arms of County Donegal (dating from the early 1970s) was influenced by the design of the old O'Donnell royal arms. The County Arms is the official coat of arms of both County Donegal and Donegal County Council. The modern County Donegal was shired by order of the English