Dungloe

An Clochán Liath
Dungloe
Town
Dungloe is located in Ireland
Dungloe
Location in Ireland
Coordinates: 54°57′07″N 8°21′29″W / 54.952°N 8.358°W / 54.952; -8.358
CountryIreland
ProvinceUlster
CountyCounty Donegal
BaronyBoylagh
Dáil ÉireannDonegal
Elevation
16 m (52 ft)
Population
 (2022)[1]
1,247
Dialing code074, +000 353 74
Irish Grid ReferenceB766115
As this is a Gaeltacht town, the Irish An Clochán Liath is the only official name. However, the name 'Dungloe' remains in widespread use.

An Clochán Liath, known in English as Dungloe (sometimes misspelled as Dunglow;[2] /dʌnˈloʊ/ dun-LOH), 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.[3] 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

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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 name of the town, An Clochán Liath, which means the grey stepping-stone.[3] The bridge was built in 1782.[4]

Dungloe Library.

The name An Clochán Liath was formerly anglicised as Cloghanlea.[3] The name Dungloe or Dunglow is believed to come from the Irish Dún gCloiche.[3] 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.[2]

Irish language

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The Comprehensive Linguistic Survey of the Gaeltacht (revised) found that only 21.4% of the population of the area spoke Irish 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.[5] Nevertheless, there are Irish-speaking areas outside the town and Irish is to be heard regularly in the town.[6]

Administration

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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.[7][8][9]

There is a Garda station,[10] Donegal County Council office,[11] and a fire station,[12] located on the Main Street.. Also, there are several convenience stores, supermarkets, cafes, pubs and restaurants. The town is the headquarters of The Rosses' indigenous supermarket chain, The Cope.[13]

Enterance to The Cope in Dungloe in 2024.
Dungloe Hospital in 2024

The Dungloe Community Hospital campus also contains a hospital,[14] mental health services[15] and a day centre for the elderly.[16]

A visitor centre to Daniel O'Donnell was opened in 2012 in the town's former National Irish Bank building.[17][18] The visitor centre closed in 2019.[19]

"Wee Daniel's" Visitor Centre, Dungloe
"Wee Daniel's" Visitor Centre, Dungloe

Tourism

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Dungloe Main Street.

The town attracts tourists during July and August when the annual Mary From Dungloe International Festival takes place.[20] 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.[citation needed] Dungloe Bay and its surrounding hills have also attracted tourists to Dungloe.[citation needed] There is also a festival dedicated to the socialist writer Peadar O'Donnell in Dungloe each autumn.[21][22] A little to the north of the town is the site of the ancient church of Templecrone.[23]

Dungloe Catholic Church, usually known locally as 'the Chapel'.

Transport

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The town is serviced by a regional Bus Éireann route [24] and several TFI Local Link routes,[25][26] 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.[27] However, the station was closed on 3 June 1940 as part of a process that saw the closure of all railways in the county.[28] The company continued to provide coach services to the town via the Lough Swilly Bus Company in the aftermath of the closure of the railways, however this ended in April 2014.[29]

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St Crone's Church of Ireland Church.

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 Catholic majority.[30]

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.[31]

The song Mary from Dungloe by Emmet Spiceland.[32]

People

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See also: Category:People from Dungloe

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Census Mapping – Towns: An Clochán Liath". Census 2022. Central Statistics Office. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  2. ^ a b Placenames (Ceantair Ghaeltachta) Order 2004
  3. ^ a b c d Placenames Database of Ireland
  4. ^ "An Clochán Liath/Dunglow". Logainm.ie. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  5. ^ "002910_Udaras_Nuashonrú_FULL_report_A4_FA.pdf" (PDF). udaras.ie. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 January 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  6. ^ Dungloe / An Clochán Liath Archived 10 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine on www.dun-na-ngall.com
  7. ^ "Dungloe Intreo Centre". www.gov.ie. 3 December 2019. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  8. ^ "Dungloe Citizens Information Centre". citizensinformation.ie. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  9. ^ "Donegal County Council". www.donegalcoco.ie. Retrieved 3 April 2024. Public Service Centres ... Bóthar Ghaoth Dobhair, An Clochán Liath, Co. Donegal, F94 H4CF
  10. ^ "An Clochán Liath (Dungloe)". Garda.ie. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  11. ^ "Draft CDP Newspaper Notice.pdf" (PDF). consult.donegal.ie. Retrieved 21 March 2024. An Clochán Liath (Dungloe) Public Services Centre, Gweedore Road, An Clochán Liath.
  12. ^ "List of Fire Stations in Donegal". www.donegalcoco.ie. Retrieved 21 March 2024. DL22 - Dungloe Fire Station - 54.953630, -8.359937
  13. ^ "ABOUT US — The Cope". The Cope. Retrieved 21 March 2024. Operating from the town of Dungloe we operate: Hardware & Homeware, Menswear, Sports, Ladieswear, Furniture & Flooring, An Club Beag Play Area,IT Sales & Services, Home Improvement / Builders Providers and Agricultural Supplies.
  14. ^ Maguire, Stephen (3 April 2014). "BEDS TO RE-OPEN AND REFURBISHMENT ALMOST COMPLETED AT DUNGLOE COMMUNITY HOSPITAL". Donegal Daily. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  15. ^ "Mental Health Services - HSE.ie". HSE.ie. Retrieved 21 March 2024. Worklink Dungloe, Caravan Rd, Dungloe...Community Mental Health Services North West Sector HQ, Hospital Campus Dungloe...Dungloe Day Centre, Psychiatric Unit, Dungloe
  16. ^ "Older People Services". HSE.ie. Retrieved 21 March 2024. Dungloe Community Hospital, Dungloe
  17. ^ "Daniel O'Donnell Visitor Centre". RTÉ Archives. Retrieved 3 April 2024. Dungloe in County Donegal is thronged with Daniel O'Donnell fans for the official opening of a new visitor centre dedicated to the singer. Over a thousand people from Ireland and abroad turned up for a first look at the centre to which Daniel donated all his memorabilia in the hope it would give an economic boost to the town. Daniel was there to officially open the new facility, seeing it as a great honour and an opportunity for Dungloe. He also performed for the fans on the street in Dungloe.
  18. ^ "Desperately seeking Daniel: Ivan Little visits the Daniel O'Donnell Visitor Centre". BelfastTelegraph.co.uk. 18 July 2015. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 3 April 2024. In the end, at the end of Dungloe's Main - and some would say only - Street, the massive poster of a grinning, but strangely orange-looking, Daniel O'Donnell on the wall of the old National Irish Bank building was clearer than any road sign that I'd found the visitor centre developed in his honour.
  19. ^ Maguire, Stephen (29 April 2019). "Breaking: Shock at closure of Daniel O'Donnell Visitor Centre". Donegal Daily. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  20. ^ "Mary From Dungloe International Arts Festival". maryfromdungloe.ie. Retrieved 21 March 2024. The Mary From Dungloe International Arts Festival is a community based festival which has been held annually since 1967 in Dungloe, County Donegal.
  21. ^ "Dungloe weekend to celebrate life and times of late Peadar O'Donnell". The Irish Times. Retrieved 21 March 2024. Bernadette McAliskey will be among the speakers at this weekend's celebration of the life and times of Peadar O'Donnell in Dungloe
  22. ^ Maguire, Stephen (16 October 2014). "LARGE CROWD EXPECTED FOR PEADAR O'DONNELL WEEKEND IN DUNGLOE". Donegal Daily. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  23. ^ "Maghery - History and Heritage". Maghery. Retrieved 21 March 2024. Templecrone Church - Built on the site of the ancient monastic site of St. Crone, the ruins of Templecrone date to around 1200AD.
  24. ^ "Bus Éireann Timetable Route 492, Donegal - Glenties - Dungloe - Bus Éireann - View Ireland Bus and Coach Timetables & Buy Tickets". buseireann.ie. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
  25. ^ "117431 SITT TT Burtonport to Letterkenny 4pg DL" (PDF). locallinkdsl.ie. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  26. ^ "992-Crolly-to-Dungloe.jpg" (JPG). locallinkdsl.ie. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  27. ^ "Irish_railways.pdf" (PDF). railscot.co.uk. Retrieved 21 March 2024. [Opened] 09.03.1903
  28. ^ "Dungloe station" (PDF). Railscot – Irish Railways. Retrieved 5 September 2007.
  29. ^ "Donegal Now - Lough Swilly bus company to cease trading this weekend – according to a Trade Union". donegalnow.com. 16 April 2014. Archived from the original on 18 April 2014. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  30. ^ "Interactive Data Visualisations | CSO Ireland". visual.cso.ie. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  31. ^ "'Sons of Anarchy' Deaths: Season 1". EW.com. Retrieved 21 March 2024. She ultimately searched the clubhouse, and while Jax managed to get the guns out in time via a sewage truck, she found oil barrels labeled as coming from Dungloe, Ireland — a known True IRA territory — and now guessed they were used to smuggle in the weapons.
  32. ^ "Emmett Spiceland". www.irish-showbands.com. Retrieved 21 March 2024. The Wexford success led to a recording deal and in February of 1968 their Mary from Dungloe topped the Irish singles chart.
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