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
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
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
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]
Entrance 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]
Dungloe Catholic Church, usually known locally as 'the Chapel'.
Transport
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]
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]
^"Donegal County Council". www.donegalcoco.ie. Retrieved 3 April 2024. Public Service Centres ... Bóthar Ghaoth Dobhair, An Clochán Liath, Co. Donegal, F94 H4CF
^"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.
^"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.
^"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
^"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.
^"Desperately seeking Daniel: Ivan Little visits the Daniel O'Donnell Visitor Centre". BelfastTelegraph.co.uk. 18 July 2015. ISSN0307-1235. 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.
^"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.
^"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.
^"'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.
^"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.
