County Donegal in the herbaria of the following institutions: the Ulster Museum, Belfast; Trinity College, Dublin; NUI Galway, and the Natural History Museum, London. Records of flowering plants include "Dactylorhiza purpurella" (Stephenson and Stephenson) Soó. The animals included in the county include the European badger ("Meles meles" L.). There are habitats for the rare corn crake ("Crex crex") in the county. At various times in its history, it has been known as County Tirconaill, County Tirconnell or County Tyrconnell (). The former was used as its official name during 1922–1927. This is in reference to both the old "túath" of Tír Chonaill
River Meles be subject to contradictory views among scholars and other concerned parties. Homer is connected with the valley of Smyrna and the banks of the Meles. His figure was one of the stock types on coins of Smyrna, one class of which showed the poet sitting, holding a volumen on his knees, and supporting his chin on his right hand was called "Homerian" by numismatists. The epithet "Melesigenes" (which means, "son of Meles" was applied to him. The cave where he was to compose his poems was described as being near the source of the river, his temple, the Homereion, stood