Dingle (Irish: An Daingean or Daingean Uí
Chúis) is a town in County Kerry in the Republic
of Ireland, on the Atlantic coast some
kilometres ( mi) west-south-west of Tralee and kilometres ( mi)
west-north-west of Killarney. The town is situated on a natural harbour below Slievanea
mountain on the large Dingle peninsula, which lies south of the River Shannon and north of the Ring of Kerry.
Principal industries in the town are tourism, fishing and
farming. In 2006 Dingle had a population of 1,920.[1] Dingle is situated in a Gaeltacht region.
Places of interest
Dingle's St. Mary's was a neo-Gothic church built to designs by
J. J. McCarthy and O'Connell. The foundation stone was laid in 1862. It originally had a nave and aisles separated by arcades, supported on columns capped by octagonal tops. The
arcades were demolished in one of the most radical reordering schemes to have been executed in Ireland. The project also saw the
demolition of the exterior walls to below the original clerstory level, and, most notably, of the attic and upper ranges of the
west elevation.
There are many opportunities to hear traditional Irish music in the town,
particularly during the summer tourist season. Dingle has a number of pubs as well as restaurants
and cafes. For a number of years it has been possible to rely on a resident bottlenose
dolphin named Fungie showing up for tour boats operating from the harbour. The town has a growing arts and jeweller Brian
de Staic is based there, as is the potter Louis Mulcahy.
People
Twinning
Dingle is twinned with Tolfa, an Italian town, and is a sister
city of Santa Barbara, California.
Statue of Fungie the Dolphin in Dingle
Transport
Dingle railway station opened on 1 April 1891, closed for
passenger traffic on 17 April 1939 and for goods traffic on
10 March 1947, finally closing altogether on 1 July 1953.[2]
Name
In 2005, Gaeltacht Affairs
Minister Éamon Ó Cuív announced that anglicised place names (such as 'Dingle') of Gaeltacht towns and villages would no longer feature on
official signposts, and only the Irish language names will appear. The English language
version of the town's name was thus officially dropped in early 2005, with the Irish name An Daingean being brought to the
fore in both languages (longer versions of the Irish placename include Daingean Uí Chúis and An Daingean Mór).
In the case of An Daingean, this move has been particularly controversial, as the town relies heavily on the tourist
industry, and some residents fear that the change could prevent potential visitors finding their way to An Daingean
(formerly Dingle). There is a similarly named town called Daingean, located in
County Offaly - this being an anglicised name. Supporters of the Minister have rejected
this line of argument and pointed out that there are numerous towns in Ireland with not only similar names but precisely the same
name, such as Blackrock which exists in Louth, Cork, Galway and Dublin. The
Minister added to the controversy by suggesting, in response to criticism of the order, that a name change to English could be
brought about by removing the town's Gaeltacht status, and thereby its entitlement to relevant government aid. Kerry County Council approved the holding of a plebiscite for the change of name to the bilingual "Dingle/Daingean
Uí Chúis"[3] which
took place in October, 2006.[4] The result was announced on 20 October, and 1,005 from 1,086 returned ballots
(out of an electorate of 1,222) favoured the name change to the bilingual version.[5][6] Éamon Ó Cuív has stated that he has no legal powers to act on the results of the
plebiscite, but that if Kerry County Council comes to him with a request that he can act on within the law, he would be willing
to give it serious consideration.
In the mean time, some locals seem to have taken matters into their own hands by spray painting "Dingle" on road signs that
only bear the Irish version of the name.
See also
References
- ^ Census
2006 – Volume 1 – Population Classified by Area. Central Statistics Office Census 2006 Reports. Central Statistics Office Ireland (April 2007). Retrieved on 2007-07-24.
- ^ Dingle station. Railscot - Irish Railways. Retrieved on 2007-09-23.
- ^ "Kerry CC votes to hold Dingle
plebiscite", RTÉ News, 17 October
2005. Retrieved on 2007-07-24.
- ^ "Dingle so good they may name it twice", Irish Independent,
9 October 2006. Retrieved on 2007-07-24.
- ^ "90% vote in favour of An Daingean name
change", RTÉ News, 20 October 2005. Retrieved on 2007-07-24.
- ^ "Do you know the way to An
Daingean?", BBC News, 20 October
2006. Retrieved on 2007-07-24.
External links
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