54°39′14″N 8°06′37″W / 54.653889°N 8.110278°W
The Diamond is the main square in Donegal Town. It forms the town centre with an extensive pedestrian area with seating and trees. It includes a prominent 'obelisk' unveiled in 1938 celebrating 'the Four Masters', four Gaelic historians led by Brother Mícheál Ó Cléirigh who wrote The Annals of the Four Masters between 1630 and 1636.[1][2] The Plantation of Ulster and the establishment of 'plantation towns' often included a meeting area or market place (often with a 'mercat cross') in the town centre.[3]
- ^ "Four Masters Memorial, The Diamond, DONEGAL, Donegal, DONEGAL". Buildings of Ireland. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
Freestanding four-sided obelisk/memorial, erected 1934, having cruciform-plan capping/finials to top with gabled/triangular projection to the centre of each face. Constructed of ashlar sandstone and set on ashlar sandstone plinth with chamfered ashlar sandstone coping over. Inscribed with names of authors of the Annals of the Four Masters to base; inscribed Celtic cross motif and Celtic interlacing motifs to each face and having Celtic interlacing motif to each gabled projection. Located in the pedestrianised central square in the centre of the Diamond, Donegal Town.
- ^ "The unveiling of the Four Masters monument in Donegal Town - Catholic Archives". catholicarchives.ie. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
A view of the unveiling of the Four Masters monument in The Diamond, the main square, in Donegal Town in 1938. The obelisk was erected to commemorate the four Franciscan friars (Mícheál Ó Cléirigh, Cú Choigcríche Ó Cléirigh, Peregrine Ó Duibhgeannáin and Fearfeasa Ó Maol Chonaire) who compiled the 'Annals of the Four Masters' between 1630 and 1636. Their names are incised into the monument (one to each face). Written in Irish, the 'Annals of the Four Masters' (Irish: 'Annála na gCeithre Máistrí'), are one of the most important surviving chronicles of medieval Irish history. The obelisk was designed by the Dublin architectural firm O'Callaghan and Giron, and was unveiled in 1938 by the Bishop of Raphoe, Dr William MacNeely, at the bequest of Patrick Gallagher, solicitor and noted historian, who bequeathed £5,000 for the creation of the monument.
- ^ "Ulster Plantation.pdf" (PDF). inchheritage.org. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
The focus of these plantation towns was always on the market place with a main street leading to a diamond or square where the market was held. Examples of the 'diamond' feature can still be seen in towns such as Belturbet, County Cavan, Clones, County Monaghan, Enniskillen, County Fermanagh and Donegal Town and Raphoe, County Donegal