Boylagh is a barony

Barony (Ireland)

In Ireland, a barony is a historical subdivision of a county. They were created, like the counties, in the centuries after the Norman invasion, and were analogous to the hundreds into which the counties of England were divided. In early use they were also called cantreds...

 in County Donegal

County Donegal

County Donegal is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Ulster. It is named after the town of Donegal. Donegal County Council is the local authority for the county...

 in Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

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Patrick Weston Joyce

Patrick Weston Joyce

Patrick Weston Joyce was an Irish historian, writer and music collector, known particularly for his research in local place names of Ireland.-Biography:...

 said the name Boylagh comes from the territory of the O'Boyle

O'Boyle

O'Boyle is a surname of Irish origin. It may refer to:*Ciarán O'Boyle, Irish rugby player*Dan O'Boyle , Irish republican; murdered 1933*George O'Boyle , Northern Irish professional football player...

s.
It was created along with Banagh

Banagh

Banagh is a barony in County Donegal in Ireland.Patrick Weston Joyce said the name Banagh came from Enna Bogaine, son of Conall Gulban, son of Niall of the Nine Hostages....

 when the former barony of Boylagh and Banagh was split in 1791 by an Act of the Parliament of Ireland

Parliament of Ireland

The Parliament of Ireland was a legislature that existed in Dublin from 1297 until 1800. In its early mediaeval period during the Lordship of Ireland it consisted of either two or three chambers: the House of Commons, elected by a very restricted suffrage, the House of Lords in which the lords...

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Boylagh is bordered by the baronies of Kilmacrenan to the north east, Rapboe South to the east, and Banagh

Banagh

Banagh is a barony in County Donegal in Ireland.Patrick Weston Joyce said the name Banagh came from Enna Bogaine, son of Conall Gulban, son of Niall of the Nine Hostages....

 to the south; to the north and west is the Atlantic Ocean

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

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Settlements in the barony include
Annagary,Boylagh: towns
Burtonport

Burtonport

Ailt an Chorráin or Ailt a' Chorráin is a Gaeltacht fishing village about 7 km northwest of Dungloe in County Donegal, Ireland....

,
Doochary

Doochary

An Dúchoraidh , meaning "the black weir", is a small village in the Rosses area of County Donegal, Ireland. Doochary is within the Gaeltacht, meaning the Irish language is the main language used there, but concern has been expressed regarding the decline of the language in the area...

,Boylagh: population centres
Dungloe

Dungloe

Dungloe is a Gaeltacht town in County Donegal, Ireland. It is the main town in the Rosses and the largest in the Donegal Gaeltacht...

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Glenties

Glenties

Glenties is a village in the northwest of Ireland in central County Donegal. It is situated where two glens meet, northwest of the Blue Stack Mountains, near the confluence of two rivers. Glenties is the largest centre of population in the parish of Iniskeel...

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Kilrean,
Lettermacaward

Lettermacaward

Leitir Mhic an Bhaird or Leitir Mhic a' Bhaird is a Gaeltacht village in the Rosses region of County Donegal, Ireland. The village, known colloquially as Leitir , is between the larger towns of Glenties and Dungloe.-Amenities:The village has two shops, 'Clerkins', a family run service station, and...

,
Portnoo,
and Rinnafarset.
Other features include the island of Arranmore

Arranmore

Árainn Mhór is the largest inhabited island of County Donegal, and the second largest in all of Ireland, with a population of 528 in 2006, down from 543 in 2002, and over 600 in 1996. The island is part of the Donegal Gaeltacht...

.Boylagh: islands

The barony is thus described in the Parliamentary Gazetteer of 1846:

It includes the district of the Rosses

The Rosses

The Rosses is a geographical and social region in the west of County Donegal, Ireland, centred around the town of Dungloe, which acts as the educational, shopping and civil centre for the area...

 in the north, and 12 inhabited islands, besides islets and insulated rocks, off the west coast. The estuaries of the Guidore

Gweedore

Gweedore is an Irish-speaking district located on the Atlantic coast of County Donegal, part of the Province of Ulster in Ireland. Gweedore stretches some 16 miles from Meenaclady in the north to Crolly in the south and around 9 miles from Dunlewey in the east to Magheraclogher in the west, and...

 and the Guibarra, the bays of Dungloe and Tyrenagh, and numerous unnavigable sandy marine inlets, cut its seaboard into a constant and intricate series of variously outlined peninsulae. A great undulating plain or champaign territory of granite constitutes its western district, and exhibits an irksome and almost uniform surface of dark peat, dotted with loughlets or ponds, and slightly variegated with patches of tillage around the cabins. Crovehy, whose summit has an altitude of 1,033 feet above sea-level, is the highest ground in this wild and dreary tract, and the small and utterly sequestered village of Dunglow, is almost the only apology for a town. The eastern district is a mass or congeries of uplands, cloven by glens and ravines This barony comprehends part of the parishes of Inniskeel and Lower Killybegs, and the whole of the parishes of Lettermacward and Templecroan; and its chief villages are Glenties and Dungloe.

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