When we first began to look for a building that would reflect the history and traditions of our town, there were many outstanding buildings to choose from. We thought about the old Mill overlooking the shorefront, Sweeney’s Hotel, one of the earliest established hostels in the north west,our local hospital "Stella Maris" and the Rectory House in Maghery. All had strong claims to be included in our project but we felt the building that best reflected all the good things about our town was our first church, St. Peter’s.The building has for many generations been a focal point in our town ,Dungloe. It has been a place of great joy and laughter, a place of sorrow and tears.It has stood witness to many changes down the centuries.It has many memories for many people and we decided that if any building was a mirror of life in Dungloe then St. Peter’s was. As an introduction we traced the history of the patron saint of our parish Naomh Crona and her early monastic settlement in Tearmonn. We traced the history of our mass rock during Penal times. This led us to the building of our first church St. Peter’s and it’s history until it’s closure in 1980.We recorded the building of our present church St.Crona’s and the refurbishment of St. Peter’s and it’s transformation into Ionad Tempall Croine and the vital role that it now plays in our community.

The Mary From Dungloe festival, which started in 1968 and which is now held each year in the town has proved to be a great success and over the years has attracted many people. It is now well established but how did it start and who is this Mary? We have to take you back to the 60’s when a group called Emmet Spiceland had a hit with a song ‘Mary From Dungloe.’ As a result the popularity of the song some of the locals decided to have a festival similar to ‘The Rose of Tralee’ and called it ‘The Mary from Dungloe’ festival. It started out as a simple festival in 1968 and is now one of the most popular festival in Donegal. There are a number of theories as to who the original Mary was. Some say Mary Browne from Lough salt, Dungloe. Others say it was Mary Gallagher of Lettercaugh, Dungloe or Mary from Meenmore or indeed Mary O’Donnell of Loughtunney.

Mary from Dungloe

The Mary from Dungloe International festival is held every year at the end of July. Large crowds turn up for the festival. The visitors are entertained by top names in showbiz. Most people come to see Daniel O’Donnell and the Mary from Dungloe. Young ladies come from many different countries to Ireland to compete for the title ‘Mary from Dungloe.’ The first winner of the title in 1968 was called Celine Powell, a girl from Galway but representing Dublin. The name Mary from Dungloe was decided upon because the band ‘Emmet Spiceland’ released a song ‘Mary from Dungloe’