Dingle Town
Dingle is my favorite town in County Kerry
What makes Dingle Town so wonderful?
One factor is its stunning location, with the Brandon mountain range behind it and a sheltered, natural harbor in front of it. A second is that many of Dingle’s buildings have been painted a vibrant mixture of colors, which makes the town look particularly cheerful and inviting.
A third factor is Dingle’s amazing mixture of award winning restaurants, cafes and pubs. The quality and variety of food in Ireland has improved greatly in the last few years, and Dingle is a leader in this movement. Even pubs now pride themselves on serving freshly harvested local produce, including fish, lamb, vegetables, herbs, cheese, artisan breads and more.
Speaking of pubs . . . One interesting fact is that Dingle has something like 50 pubs, which is pretty amazing for a town of approximately 2,000 people!
A fourth factor that makes Dingle so wonderful is its extensive calendar of festivals and events, which are held throughout the year. A fifth is its eclectic mixture of shops, which sell stunning, high-quality, handmade goods — from crystal, leather and jewelry to pottery, paintings and handloomed wall hangings. I actually doubt it, but you might be able to find similar high quality arts and crafts in Dublin. If so, however, you would have to travel all over the city to do so. (Click here to learn about my 10 favorite shops in Dingle.)
Dingle Harbour
Dingle is located on a natural harbor that provides shelter in all kinds of weather. Today Dingle Harbour welcomes fishing vessels from around the world and provides a home for tour boats, sailing boats, kayaks, naomhógs (traditional Irish row boats) and more.
For 37 years, Dingle Harbor was also home to a beloved dolphin named Fungie. Although he was wild, Fungie clearly enjoyed the company of human beings and used to delight locals and visitors alike with his antics. Unfortunately, he disappeared in 2020 and it is now assumed that he has made his transition.
Dingle Harbour itself is absolutely spectacular. It connects Dingle Town with Dingle Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.
Dingle Town: A Bit of History
No one knows exactly how old Dingle Town is. It is known, however, that the Normans invaded it in 1290 and soon turned it into a major trading port. Through the port, they exported butter, wool, fish and meat and imported such products as coal, salt and wine.
The Spanish Connection
Dingle soon developed a major trading relationship with Spain. The Spaniards built St. James’ Church in Dingle during the 13th century, and Dingle Harbour became a major point of embarkation for pilgrims traveling to the shrine of St. James at Santiago de Compostela in Galicia.
In 1529, James FitzGerald, eleventh Earl of Desmond, signed The Treaty of Dingle in St. James’ Church with Don Gonzalez Fernandez, Ambassador to the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, King of Spain. The treaty incorporated most of southwest Ireland into the Habsburg Monarchy and gave Irish exiles and emigrés the right to full citizenship in Habsburg Spain, Austria and the Netherlands. These rights lasted until the early 20th century.
Over the centuries, St. James’ Church fell into ruin. Its current structure was built on the original site in 1807 and has since been updated several times, most recently in 1974. Today it not only provides a place of worship, but also hosts numerous concerts, lectures and special events.
Rising and Falling Fortunes
Dingle’s fortunes rose and fell over the centuries. Rebellions against the English occurred in both the 16th and 17th centuries and resulted in loss of life for thousands of Irish men, women and children. A thriving linen trade developed in the 1700s, but died out in the early 1800s when industrialization transformed the textile industry.
At the same time that the linen industry was collapsing, the population was rising. By the 1830s, Dingle had a population of 5,000. Rising numbers of people paired with lack of work led to chronic poverty, and the majority of the population became dependent on the potato as their sole source of food. When the potato famine of 1845-1848 hit, disease, eviction from the land by English landlords, and mass starvation and emigration followed.
Independence in the 20th Century
By the beginning of the 20th century, the Dingle Peninsula was beginning to recover once again. The Easter Rising in 1916 mainly took place in Dublin, and for the most part Dingle was spared. However, people continued to depend almost entirely on subsistence farming and fishing, and many continued to emigrate.
Conditions gradually began to improve, however. Independence from England in 1922 gradually gave rise to a new respect among the Irish for their native language, literature, culture and sports. Because many people in the western part of the Dingle Peninsula continued to speak their native language on a daily basis, language schools began to develop that drew Irish people from around the country.
Dingle Town: 1969
And then 1969 arrived, along with almost cataclysmic changes. This is the year that American movie director David Lean decided to film his epic — Ryan’s Daughter — in Dingle. Filming lasted two years, bringing with it hundreds of high paying jobs for the locals, as well as the need to house and feed hundreds of film crew members. Once the movie was released, people from around the world wanted to see the beautiful sights for themselves, which sparked a tourism industry almost overnight. Fungie’s arrival in 1983 added to the tourism boom.
Today Dingle is a vibrant modern community in which Irish culture, language and traditions flourish — to the delight of locals and visitors alike. All of these factors make Dingle Town one of the best places to visit in all of County Kerry.
