Ireland; Co. Donegal; Donegal Town: cemetery and ruin of Franciscan Priory Donegal Abbey. The abbey was built in 1474 on the orders of the leading Gaelic chieftain of the area; the king of Tyrconnell; Hugh Dubh O'Donnell and his wife Finola O'Brien. He is also called Hugh Roe O'Donnell (Irish: Aodh Ruadh mac N閕ll Gairbh ?Domhnaill); was born 1427 and died 1505. He was King of Tyrconnell 1461 - 1505 and ruled from Donegal Castle in Donegal Town. Hugh Roe O'Donnel; also called Red Hugh O'Donnell and Red Hugh I; was the wealthy chief of the O'Donnell clan. He and his is wife who was also called Nuala founded the Franciscan monastery above the harbour. In the 1580s; the Abbey was ransacked by the Sheriff of Donegal; William Mostian and his brother Hugh Mostian. In the Nine Years' War; the Abbey saw a meeting between the rebel leadership and envoys of the Spanish King Philip II. The Abbey was the scene of fighting during the 1601 Siege of Donegal when Red Hugh O'Donnell (Red Hugh II) attempted to capture the town from Crown forces led by the Gaelic warrior Niall Garve O'Donnell. The Annals of the Four Masters may have been partially written in the abbey in the 1630s.