The Mary From Dungloe International Festival is a popular Irish music festival held annually, usually at the end of July in the small town of Dungloe, County Donegal. The festival is centred on a pageant to find out which contestant has the spirit of the festival, who is then crowned "Mary From Dungloe". The winner of the contest holds this title for a year and acts as an ambassador for the festival. Irish emigrant communities from around the world, as well as some Irish counties and towns, participate by nominating a young woman, endearingly titled a "Mary", to represent their community at the contest. The festival has grown in popularity over the years and now regularly attracts tens of thousands of visitors to the area. The festival is inspired by the song "Mary from Dungloe" as the Rose of Tralee festival is by "The Rose of Tralee". In 2019, the festival celebrated its 52nd anniversary, with Roisin Maher from New York becoming Mary From Dungloe 2019.
Many communities around the world with links to County Donegal have their own local contests to pick their community's "Mary" who subsequently is nominated to travel to Dungloe to compete in the Mary From Dungloe contest. Irish communities who have entered contestants include:
There are a number of traditional events which are run every year as part of the festival. Here are just a few examples:
Event | Traditional Location |
---|---|
Opening Ceremony | Main St. |
Introduction of MFD Contestants | Main St. |
Country Sunday | Main St. |
Lá Gaelach | Main St. |
Open Air Music | Main St. |
Art Exhibition | Sharkey's Service Station / Ionad Teampaill Chróine |
McGurk's Fun Fair | The Cope Car Park, Quay Road |
Childrens Sports Day | CLG An Clochán Liath/Dungloe GAA Grounds |
Men's Golf Open | Cruit Island Golf Club |
Ladies Golf Open | Cruit Island Golf Club |
Treasure Hunt | Main St. starting point |
Annual 5K Road Race | Main St. & surrounds |
Fly Fishing Competition | Dungloe Marina |
Little Miss Mary Competition | Parochial Hall/ CDP na Rosann |
Table Quiz | Maghery Community Centre/ Midway Bar & Restaurant |
Junior Table Quiz | Ionad Teampall Cróine |
Social Evening with the Marys | Various |
Historic Tour of the Rosses | Departs Main St. |
Walk the Rosses | Dungloe area, Leitir/Lettermacaward, Maghery, Rann na Feirste, Loch an Iúir, Burtonport |
Interviewing of the MFD Contestants | Carrickfinn Airport / Rosses Community School |
Bonny Baby Show | Parochial Hall |
Daniel O'Donnell in Concert | Festival Dome |
Carnival Parade | Main St. |
Band Competition | Main St. |
MFD Contest Final | Festival Dome / Ionad Spóirt na Rosann |
Gala Ball | Waterfront Hotel |
Closing Ceremony | Main St. |
This list of songs or music-related items is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (October 2021) |
The 2024 'Marys' for the festival were as follows:
The Donegal Mary, Clare O’Donnell, was crowned the 2024 Mary from Dungloe at the crowning cabaret on 4 August. [12]
Below is a complete list of contest winners from 1968 to 2023.
Year | Winner | Represented | Originally From | Age |
---|---|---|---|---|
1968 | Celine Powell [13] [14] | Dublin | Galway | |
1969 | Marie McGlinchey [15] | Donegal | ||
1970 | Monina Hughes | Armagh | ||
1971 | Gloria O'Boyle | Donegal | Bunbeg, Gweedore | |
1972 | Carole Mary Carr [15] | Limerick | ||
1973 | Nora Boyle [15] | Donegal | Burndennet, County Tyrone | |
1974 | Maribel Lopez Del Hoya [15] | Spain | ||
1975 | Maureen Temple [16] [17] | Londonderry | ||
1976 | Anne Marie McDaid [16] [17] | Derry | ||
1977 | Sheila T Boyle [15] | Bayonne | ||
1978 | Bernice McElroy [18] | Down | Warrenpoint, County Down | 18 |
1979 | Ann O'Callaghan | Louth | ||
1980 | Marie Coyle [14] | Glasgow | ||
1981 | Noreen Galligan [19] | An Ghaeltacht | ||
1982 | Debbie O'Brien [20] | Manchester | 17 | |
1983 | Máire McCole [21] [14] | Dungloe | ||
1984 | Anne Marie Moloney [14] | New York | Jackson Heights | 18 |
1985 | Sheila Hughes [14] | Mayo | ||
1986 | Linda Farrell [22] | Louth | 22 | |
1987 | Maria McGovern [21] [14] | Dublin | Dublin | |
1988 | Maureen Connelly [15] | Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania | New York | 24 |
1989 | Carmel Kelly [23] | Donegal | Donegal | |
1990 | Anne Marie Downes [15] | Louth | ||
1991 | Pamela Sheridan [24] | Meath | ||
1992 | Paula O'Reilly [25] [14] | Monaghan | ||
1993 | Samantha Pairman [26] | North East England | ||
1994 | Sarah Mulholland [26] [14] | Dungloe | Kincasslagh | 21 |
1995 | Kathleen McMahon [14] | New York | New York | 20 |
1996 | Siobhan Bignell | Melbourne | London, England | 24 |
1997 | Heather Stewart [27] | Edinburgh | ||
1998 | Brighid Williams | Sydney | ||
1999 | Ciara Diver [17] | Derry | Portstewart, County Londonderry | |
2000 | Shirley McGlynn [28] | Manchester | Dublin | 21 |
2001 | Fiona Callan [29] [30] | Wicklow | Wicklow | 19 |
2002 | Jolene McMonagle [30] | An Ghealtacht | Falcarragh | 22 |
2003 | Aisling Friel [31] | Glasgow | Glasgow | 21 |
2004 | Lisa Mc Kelvey [32] | Dungloe | Dungloe | 20 |
2005 | Katie Armstrong [33] | Philadelphia | Philadelphia | 25 |
2006 | Jennifer Halton | Kildare | Kildare | 22 |
2007 | Kerry Sweeney [27] | Edinburgh | Edinburgh | 21 |
2008 | Una Rooney [34] | Armagh | Armagh | 24 |
2009 | Kate Ferguson [17] | Derry | Derry | 25 |
2010 | Jemma Ferry [35] [27] | Edinburgh | Edinburgh | 22 |
2011 | Debbie Rodgers [36] | Dungloe | Burtonport | 21 |
2012 | Meghan Davis [37] | Philadelphia | Wilkes-Barre, PA | 26 |
2013 | Grace Sweeney [38] | Glasgow | Glasgow | 27 |
2014 | Kate Linsay [39] | Sydney | Sydney | 19 |
2015 | Siobhan Dunn [40] [27] | Edinburgh | Edinburgh | 28 |
2016 | Eva Ní Dhoibhlinn [41] | Gaeltacht | Gweedore | 20 |
2017 | Alisha Medford [42] | Glasgow | Glasgow | 20 |
2018 | Caroline O'Donnell [43] | Dungloe | Leffin | 25 |
2019–2022 | Róisín Maher [44] | New York | Carlow | 27 |
2021 Virtual Mary | Alannagh Nic Fhloinn [45] | Pleanáil Teanga (Gaeltacht) | Sheskinarone | 22 |
2022 | Caitlin Finn [46] | London | Ballybofey London Letterkenny | 21 |
2023 | Adele Morgan [47] | Dubai | 28 | |
2024 | Clare O’Donnell [12] | Donegal | Letterkenny | 26 |
Many Irish and international acts have performed at the festival over the years. The traditional annual crowd puller, however, continues to be internationally renowned folk singer Daniel O'Donnell, who made his festival debut in 1985.
The Mary From Dungloe contest final has been compered by a number of famous faces.
Donegal is a town in County Donegal in Ulster, the northern province in Ireland. Although Donegal gave its name to the county, now Lifford is the county town. From the 15th until the early 17th century, Donegal was the "capital" of Tyrconnell, a Gaelic kingdom controlled by the O'Donnell dynasty of the Northern Uí Néill.
Ailt an Chorráin or Ailt a' Chorráin is a Gaeltacht fishing village about 7 km (4 mi) northwest of Dungloe in The Rosses district of County Donegal, Ireland. The main employers in the village were the Burtonport Fishermen's Co-op and the Bord Iascaigh Mhara ice plant; but these have both since closed and their former premises were demolished in 2021 as part of a seafront environment upgrade scheme.
An Clochán Liath, known in English as Dungloe, 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. 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.
The Rosses is a traditional 'district' in the west of County Donegal in Ulster, the northern province in Ireland. The Rosses has a population of over 7,000 centred on the town of Dungloe, which acts as the educational, shopping and civic centre for the area. Defined by physical boundaries in the form of rivers, as well as history and language use, the area has a distinctive identity, separate from the rest of County Donegal. The extensive district lies between the parish and district of Gweedore to the north and the town of Glenties to the south. A large part of the Rosses is in the Gaeltacht, which means that Irish is the spoken language. The Rosses, Cloughaneely and Gweedore, known locally as "the three parishes", with 16,000 Irish speakers, together form a social and cultural region different from the rest of the county, with Gweedore serving as the main centre for socialising and industry. Gaeltacht an Láir is another Irish-speaking area.
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Niall O'Donnell is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays for St Eunan's and the Donegal county team.
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