Ballybofey

Ballybofey is a town in Co Donegal. It is situated on the south bank of the River Finn and is twinned with the smaller town of Stranorlar on the north side of the river. There are no schools or churches in the town of Ballybofey itself, with all these amenities lying either across the bridge in Stranorlar or outside the town limits. This is due to laws during plantation times when certain Catholic buildings were not allowed within a specified range of Protestant towns, in this case Stranorlar, though Stranorlar now has both a Roman Catholic and a Church of Ireland church. There are numerous shops, pubs and supermarkets in Ballybofey, however, with the North-West's biggest department store, McElhinney's, also located here. The Balor Arts Centre is also located here and is a popular theatre and musical venue. Ballybofey is home to Finn Park where League of Ireland side Finn Harps play their home games. Seán MacCumhail Park is also located in Ballybofey, where the Donegal senior football team play most of their home games. The town is also home to Finn Valley Rugby Club.