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Dingle
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Dingle An Daingean |
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| Location | ||
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WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates:
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| Irish Grid Reference Q445012 |
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| Statistics | ||
| Province: | Munster | |
| County: | County Kerry | |
| Population (2006) | 1,920 | |
Dingle (Irish: An Daingean or Daingean Uí Chúis) is a town in County Kerry in the Republic of Ireland, on the Atlantic coast some 50 kilometres (30 mi) west-south-west of Tralee and 80 kilometres (50 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.
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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 and master crystal craftsman Sean Daly.
- 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.
Dingle was formerly the western terminus of the narrow gauge Tralee and Dingle Light Railway. It was also the westernmost railway station in Europe.
The railway station opened on 1 April 1891, closed for passenger traffic on 17 April 1939 and for regular goods traffic on 10 March 1947, finally closing altogether on 1 July 1953 (by which time a cattle train once per month was the sole operation).[2]
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.
- ^ 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.