An Clochán Liath, known in English as Dungloe (sometimes misspelled as Dunglow;[ Placenames (Ceantair Ghaeltachta) Order 2004] ), is a town on the west coast of County Donegal in Ulster, the northern province in Ireland. It is the main town in The Rosses and the largest in the Donegal Gaeltacht.[ Placenames Database of Ireland] Dungloe developed as a town in the middle of the 18th century, and now serves as the administrative and retail centre for the west of County Donegal, and in particular The Rosses, with the only mainland secondary school for the area.
Name
There is a river at the bottom of the town and years ago the only crossing was over a grey granite slab lying in the riverbed, hence the
Irish language name of the town,
An Clochán Liath, which means
the grey stepping-stone.
The bridge was built in 1782.
The name
An Clochán Liath was formerly anglicised as
Cloghanlea.
The name
Dungloe or
Dunglow is believed to come from the Irish
Dún gCloiche.
This name came into common English usage in the later years of the 18th century when the monthly fair, formerly held at
Dún gCloiche (five miles north of the nascent town), was transferred to
An Clochán Liath. In time the name of the fair and that of the town were subsumed. Today,
An Clochán Liath is the only officially recognised name of the town.
Irish language
The
Comprehensive Linguistic Survey of the Gaeltacht (revised) found that only 21.4% of the population of the area spoke
Irish language on a daily basis.
Despite being officially within the
Gaeltacht, Irish is not the everyday language of the majority of residents. Just over one-fifth of the population are daily Irish speakers.
Nevertheless, there are Irish-speaking areas outside the town and Irish is to be heard regularly in the town.
[ Dungloe / An Clochán Liath on www.dun-na-ngall.com]
Administration
Dungloe is home to the Dungloe District Court, which covers the west and south-west areas of
County Donegal. The local council offices are situated in the Public Services Centre on the Gweedore Road, including an Intreo centre, Citizens Information centre and Donegal County Council office.
There is a Garda station,
A visitor centre to Daniel O'Donnell was opened in 2012 in the town's former National Irish Bank building.
Tourism
The town attracts tourists during July and August when the annual Mary From Dungloe International Festival takes place.
It was founded in the 1960s and it has attracted 'special guests' over the years including Daniel O'Donnell,
Cliff Richard,
Gay Byrne and
Sharon Shannon. Dungloe Bay and its surrounding hills have also attracted tourists to Dungloe. There is also a festival dedicated to the socialist writer Peadar O'Donnell in Dungloe each autumn.
A little to the north of the town is the site of the ancient church of Templecrone.
Transport
The town is serviced by a regional Bus Éireann route
and several TFI Local Link routes,
as well as a number of private bus companies, both of which provide a link to national Bus Éireann routes through
Donegal Town and
Letterkenny, and to the north of the county and
Derry also.
In 1903, the town was linked, through Dungloe railway station, to the Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway.
Religion and popular culture
By the standards of a rural
Gaeltacht area, Dungloe has a significant Protestant minority, many of whom are Presbyterian. This is a result of the Plantation of Ulster in the seventeenth century. However, the town has a large
Irish Catholic majority.
Dungloe is mentioned in FX series Sons of Anarchy as the source of the motorcycle club's weapons from the True IRA, a fictional representation of the Real IRA.
The song Mary from Dungloe by Emmet Spiceland.
People
-
Tony Boyle (born 1970) – All-Ireland winning
-
Alexander Campbell (1833–1877) – American businessman
-
Paddy "the Cope" Gallagher (1871–1966) – businessman
-
John O'Donnell (1910–1954) –
-
Peadar O'Donnell (1893–1986) – republican Marxist
-
Adrian Sweeney (born 1976) – All-Star
-
Goats Don't Shave, Irish folk group
See also
-
List of towns and villages in the Republic of Ireland
-
List of towns and villages in Northern Ireland
External links
