In October 1905, Buncrana was the first town in County Donegal to receive electricity.
It was generated at Swan Mill which continued to provide electricity for the town until September 1954 when Buncrana was brought under the ESB Rural Electrification Scheme.

On 30 July 1922, during the Irish Civil War, Buncrana was captured by the Free State forces from Republican forces without the loss of life.
The Free State forces held the railway station, telephone and telegraph offices and all the roads entering the town.
At 4:00am a sentry stopped a car on the outskirts of the town and on discovering it contained the Republican commander, with five armed volunteers, arrested them.
At around 7:00am the Republican forces' position was surrounded and were given fifteen minutes to surrender.
They complied, were arrested and their weapons and ammunition seized.
Later that day, 100 Free State troops commandeered a train at Buncrana station and proceeded to take Clonmany, Carndonagh and other locations on the peninsula.

Buncrana was the object of public attention in 1972, when after Operation Motorman it became the place of refuge for many Provisional Irish Republican Army members from Derry.
In 1991, a local Sinn Féin councillor, Eddie Fullerton, was murdered by loyalists from Northern Ireland.

In March 2016 Buncrana town came to public attention when five people of the same family died after their car slipped off Buncrana Pier into the waters of Lough Swilly.
Only a 4 month old baby survived when the father, Sean McGrotty, passed his daughter through a window to  a passer-by who swam out to help.
On November 23, 2017 an inquest found that the driver died by 'misadventure'.
Post-mortem results also showed that the driver was more than three times over the drink drive limit.
In October 1905, Buncrana was the first town in County Donegal to receive electricity. It was generated at Swan Mill which continued to provide electricity for the town until September 1954 when Buncrana was brought under the ESB Rural Electrification Scheme.
On 30 July 1922, during the Irish Civil War, Buncrana was captured by the Free State forces from Republican forces without the loss of life. The Free State forces held the railway station, telephone and telegraph offices and all the roads entering the town. At 4:00am a sentry stopped a car on the outskirts of the town and on discovering it contained the Republican commander, with five armed volunteers, arrested them. At around 7:00am the Republican forces' position was surrounded and were given fifteen minutes to surrender. They complied, were arrested and their weapons and ammunition seized. Later that day, 100 Free State troops commandeered a train at Buncrana station and proceeded to take Clonmany, Carndonagh and other locations on the peninsula.
Buncrana was the object of public attention in 1972, when after Operation Motorman it became the place of refuge for many Provisional Irish Republican Army members from Derry. In 1991, a local Sinn Féin councillor, Eddie Fullerton, was murdered by loyalists from Northern Ireland.
In March 2016 Buncrana town came to public attention when five people of the same family died after their car slipped off Buncrana Pier into the waters of Lough Swilly. Only a 4 month old baby survived when the father, Sean McGrotty, passed his daughter through a window to  a passer-by who swam out to help. On November 23, 2017 an inquest found that the driver died by 'misadventure'. Post-mortem results also showed that the driver was more than three times over the drink drive limit.
Buncrana