A photo album dating from the mid-1800s has been described as a "gem", which highlights a link between Donegal and three nieces of the author Jane Austen.
The album, which came from the US, was bought on eBay by Karen Ievers, who was interested in it because it appeared to contain photos of aristocrats from Ireland and England.
However, according to Donegal County Archivist, Dr Niamh Brennan, Ms Ievers got very excited when she went through the captions and discovered relatives of the famous author of books like Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility.
Ms Ievers contacted the archives and Dr Brennan said they were delighted to acquire the "gem" of an album, which features many members of aristocratic families and people who are significant in the history of the region.
She estimates the photographs range from around 1850 to 1870 or 1880, when photography was in its infancy, and it was generally only the gentry who were photographed.
The album has gone on display in the County Museum in Letterkenny, alongside a miniature portrait of Cassandra Knight, who married Lord George Hill in 1834.
Story worthy of a Jane Austen novel
Cassandra was a daughter of Edward Knight, a brother of Jane Austen. He was born Edward Austen but changed his name to Knight as a condition of his inheritance of the Chawton Estate in Hampshire.
Caroline Carr, Assistant Curator at Donegal County Museum, said the path of true love did not run smoothly however, and the story of the Knight sisters is in itself worthy of the plot of a Jane Austen novel.
George had met Cassandra when she was 20-years-old, but his mother, Lady Downshire, forbade marriage, stating that Cassandra was "no money, all charms".
Financially dependent on his Dowager mother, George then concentrated on his army career for eight years, before proposing again to Cassandra.
Following their society wedding in London, Cassandra and George moved to Dublin and then Donegal, where he owned over 20,000 acres of land.
They lived in Gortlee House in Letterkenny, where Cassandra gave birth to four children but sadly a few days after the birth of her fourth child, Cassandra died of puerperal fever at the age of 35.
Cassandra's sister Louisa took over the care of her late sister's children, spending time between England and Donegal until George proposed marriage to her.
Caroline Carr said that at the time, the proposal was considered by many to be illegal and wickedly immoral, so, in 1847, the couple travelled to the continent to get married under a licence granted by the King of Denmark.
The legality and morality of the marriage was the subject of parliamentary debate and investigation.
The couple lived in Ballyarr House near Ramelton and had one child. In later years, Louisa's sister Marianne came from England to live with them.
When he died in 1879, George was buried with Cassandra at Conwal cemetery in Letterkenny.
Louisa, who died in 1889, and her sister Marianne, who died in 1896, are buried side by side in Tully graveyard near Ramelton.
The photograph album will be on display at the County Museum in Letterkenny until 16 March, when it will be removed for further conservation work.
However, the entire album has already been digitised by Donegal County Archives and is available to view for free on Donegal County Council's website.
