Owned successively by three great families – the O’Donnells (1474-1610), the Brookes (1610–76) and the Gores (1676-c.1950s) – the most striking feature of its history is its former political prominence. Under the O’Donnells, it was for 130 years the capital of Tír Chonaill – effectively an independent state and a minor international power. Later, it suffered four sieges (1601, 1641, 1651, 1689) but was never captured, it was the principal estate town of the Gore family for 240 years, a parliamentary constituency for 187 years, the administrative centre of a poor law union for 85 years, and the archetypical Irish market town for two centuries.