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'Dingle' ( or ''Daingean Uí Chúis'') is a town in County Kerry in the Republic of Ireland, on the Atlantic coast some west-south-west of Tralee and 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.

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.
Principal industries in the town are tourism, fishing and farming. In 2006 Dingle had a population of 1,920. Census 2006 – Volume 1 – Population Classified by Area Dingle is situated in a Gaeltacht region.
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.
Famous Gaelic Athletic Association commentator Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh was born east of Dingle in 1930. Also from Dingle are Joe O'Toole, Senator and Pauline Scanlon, singer.
Dingle is twinned with Tolfa, an Italian town, and is a sister city of Santa Barbara, California.

Contents

Name

See also

References

External links

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"^[1] which took place in October, 2006.^[2] The result was announced on 20th October, and 1,005 from 1,086 returned ballots (out of an electorate of 1,222) favoured the name change to the bilingual version.^[3][4] 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

★ List of towns in the Republic of Ireland

★ Munster Irish

References

1.
Kerry CC votes to hold Dingle plebiscite
2.
Dingle so good they may name it twice
3.
90% vote in favour of An Daingean name change
4.
Do you know the way to An Daingean?

External links

★ Fishing on the Dingle Peninsula

★ How Dingle lost its name (Dinglename.com)

★ Information about Dingle Town