Raphoe (/rəˈfoʊ/ rə-FOH; Irish: Ráth Bhoth) is a small town in County Donegal in the north-west of Ulster, the northern province in Ireland.

[citation needed] The rich agricultural land around Raphoe has been inhabited and cultivated for thousands of years, and evidence of this can be seen through monuments such as the Beltany stone circle, just outside the town.

[citation needed] Built in the 1630s as the Bishop's Palace, the 'castle', which is now a ruin, was laid siege to during the Irish Rebellion of 1641, captured by Cromwell's troops in 1650 and was damaged by supporters of King James II & VII in 1689.

Feeling threatened in his new location, he built himself a new palace on a hill overlooking the town using stone from an ancient Round Tower in 1637.

This proved fortuitous when a rebellion broke out in 1641 and the Bishop was forced to shelter in the "castle", as it has come to be known until relieved by the Lagganeer army.

This time, he was forced to surrender but unlike virtually every other bishop in Ireland, Leslie survived and was returned to his see at the Restoration in 1660.

The castle was destroyed in an accidental fire in 1838[7] St. Columcille and St. Eunan, ninth abbot of Iona, had churches at Raphoe in the fifth and sixth centuries.

Bishop Philip Twysden, 1747–1752, spent little time in Raphoe but squandered the family fortune in London; according to later reports, he was shot whilst robbing a stagecoach.

[6] On the summit of Beltany Hill, just over 1.5 kilometres (1 mi) from Raphoe, there stands one of the finest stone circles in Ireland.

Raphoe's status has declined significantly in recent centuries, however, with the Anglican diocese being merged with Derry, while the Roman Catholic bishop now has his see in the larger town of Letterkenny.

The strategically important Belfast-Derry railway line is to be upgraded to facilitate more frequent trains and improvements to the permanent way such as track and signalling to enable faster services.

[10] In recent years, Raphoe has come under the media spotlight following the establishment of the Morris Tribunal to investigate allegations of corrupt and dishonest policing in the county by the Garda Síochána.

The Tribunal's second report related to Garda attempts to frame a local publican, Frankie McBrearty, for the murder of cattle dealer Richie Barron.