DINGLE, or DINGLE-I-COUCH, a parish and market-town and post-town
and sea-port (incorporated), formerly a parliamentary borough,
in the barony of CORKAGUINEY, county of KERRY, and province of
MUNSTER, 22 miles (W.) from Tralee, and 173 miles
(S. W. by W.) from Dublin; containing 6719 inhabi
tants, of which number, 4327 are in the town. This
place was anciently called Dangean-ni-Cushey, or "the
castle of Hussey," from a castle built here by an old
English family of that name, to whom one of the Earls
of Desmond had granted a considerable tract of land in
the vicinity. On the rebellion and consequent for
feitures of the Desmond family and its adherents, it
was, with divers lands, granted to the Earl of Ormonde,
from whom it was purchased by Fitzgerald, Knight of
Kerry, who had also a castle in this town. After the
destruction of the Spaniards at Smerwick, in 1581, the
lord-deputy rested here, where many of his men died
from sickness, notwithstanding the supplies brought in
by the Earl of Ormonde. Soon after this event, Queen
Elizabeth granted £300 to the inhabitants to surround
the town with walls; but in 1600, the sugan Earl of
Desmond having been refused admittance into the
Knight of Kerry's castle, revenged the affront by setting
fire to the town; the Knight subsequently delivered up
the castle to Sir Charles Wilmot, who for some time
made it his head-quarters. Dingle is the most westerly
town in Ireland; it is situated in lat. 52° 10' 30" and
Ion. 10° 15' 45", on the northern coast of the bay of the
same name, an inlet from which forms the harbour;
and may be called the capital of the extensive peninsula
which comprises the entire barony of Corkaguiney.
This district is generally supposed to have been colo
nised by the Spaniards, who formerly carried on an
extensive fishery off the coast, and traded with the in
habitants, who still retain strong indications of their
Spanish origin, and some of the old houses are evidently
built in the Spanish, fashion. The town occupies a hilly
slope, and is surrounded by mountains on all sides
except that towards the harbour, which here presents
the appearance of a lake; the outlet being concealed by
a projecting headland. The streets are irregularly dis
posed, but as there are more than the usual proportion
of respectable slated houses, with gardens attached, the
town has from a short distance a very pleasing appear
ance. The number of houses, in 1831, was 699, since
which several others have been erected: the inhabitants
are well supplied with excellent water; though not
lighted, and but partially paved, it has been much im
proved within the last 20 years, is generally considered
a very healthy place of residence, and has an excellent
bathing strand. A news-room is supported by sub
scription. The manufacture of linen was formerly
carried on to a considerable extent, and at one time
exported to the amount of £60,000 annually; but since
the great improvement of the cotton manufacture, it
has gradually declined, and is now nearly extinct: a
small quantity of coarse linen is still made in the town
and neighbourhood, and sent to Cork. The present
export trade, though not considerable, is increasing: it
consists chiefly in corn and butter, of which about 10
cargoes, averaging 200 tons each, are annually sent to
England, chiefly to Liverpool. The principal imports
are iron, coal, salt, and earthenware. An extensive
fishery is carried on in the bay and off the coast, in
which about 100 boats, averaging six men in each, are
exclusively employed; and which also affords employ
ment to upwards of 1000 persons in. curing and convey
ing the fish to various parts. The greater portion is
sent by sea to Cork and Limerick, but a considerable
supply is conveyed by land to Tralee arid Killarney.
The pier, originally built by the corporation, aided by a
grant of £1000, in 1765, from the Irish Parliament, was
enlarged by the late Fishery Board, and subsequently
improved by the customs' department: it has been
found beneficial for mercantile and agricultural purposes,
as well as the fisheries: vessels of 300 tons' can come
up to it. The harbour is well adapted for vessels of
moderate burden, but not being discoverable from the
sea, is what is nautically termed a "blind" one; it is,
however, extremely difficult of access during a strong
west wind, and vessels passing by it and running to the
eastward are in danger of being lost on Castlemaine
bar.
The market is on Saturday, and is well supplied
with stock and provisions of every description; there
are no fairs, the market being considered a sort of
weekly fair for cattle and pigs: about 800 of the latter
are sent annually to Cork. The market and court-house
were erected by the late Knight of Kerry. There are
two flour-mills, and an ale and porter brewery in the
town, and branches of the National and Agricultural
Banks have been lately established. Here are chief
stations of the constabulary police and coast-guard;
the latter being the head of the district, extending
along the coast from the bay of Dingle to Bran
don Head, and comprising the stations of Minard,
Dingle, Ventry, Ferriter's-Cove, Bally david, and Bran
don. Dingle is the residence of the inspecting com
mander. Queen Elizabeth, in the 28th year of her
reign, (1585) signed a warrant for the grant of a char
ter of incorporation to the inhabitants of the town,
with privileges similar to the borough of Drogheda,
and with a superiority over the harbours of Smerwick,
Ventry, and Ferriter's-Creek; but the charter was not
actually granted until the 4th of Jas. I. This charter,
which is the only one known, was granted to the
"Sovereign, Burgesses, and Commonalty," from which
it would appear that the corporation was then in exist
ence, probably under the authority of the warrant of
Elizabeth. The town, however, under the name of
Dingk-i-couch, is found among those that sent members
to Parliament in the 27th of Elizabeth. The style of
the corporation is "The Sovereign, Burgesses, and
Commonalty, of the Town of Dingle-i-Couch;" it con
sists of a sovereign, 12 burgesses (including the sove
reign), and an indefinite number of freemen. The
officers are a recorder, town-clerk, two serjeants-at-mace,
wcighmaster, and pound-keeper, none of whom are
mentioned in the charter. The sovereign is elected
from among the burgesses by the corporation at large,
annually on the feast of St. James j but by the charter
he may be also elected from the freemen. The charter
does not contain any provisions as to the number of
burgesses,, or the mode of their election; but the num
ber has always been limited to 12, who are elected for
life by the corporation at large. No right of freedom
has been recognised, and freemen are elected by the
body corporate, without reference to qualification of re
sidence or otherwise. The recorder is elected for life
by the corporation; the town-clerk, formerly elected
by the whole body, has of late been appointed by the
sovereign alone; by whom also the serjeants-at-mace,
weighmaster, and pound-keeper are appointed. The
borough sent two representatives to the Irish Parlia
ment until the Union, when it was disfranchised, and
the entire compensation of £15,000 paid to Richard
Boyle Townshend, Esq., several other claims having
been disallowed. His representative, Lieut.-Col. John
Townshend, and Lord Ventry are the principal proprie
tors of the town; the Earl of Cork has a small portion
along the sea-shore. The jurisdiction of the corpo
ration comprises a circle of two Irish miles radius by
sea and land, measured from the parish church in the
town, and includes the parishes of Dingle, Kildrum,
Garfinagh, the south part of Cloghane and part of Kinnard;
and the admiralty jurisdiction of the sovereign
extends as far as an arrow will fly from the harbours
of Dingle, Veutry, Smerwick, and Ferriter's-Creek. The
sovereign is by the charter the sole justice of the peace
within the borough, with power to try all but capital
offences; he is also escheator and coroner, and has the
exclusive return of writs: but these powers have not
been strictly exercised, as the magistrates, coroner, and
sheriffs of the county act by courtesy within the cor
porate limits. The civil court, called "The Tholsel
Court of the Borough and Corporation of Dingle," is
held every alternate Thursday by the recorder (who is
always the sovereign, or deputy sovereign), and the ju
risdiction is stated to extend to pleas of any amount:
the mesue process is by service or attachment of the
goods; but the latter process is only issued for debts
exceeding 40S. late currency. The recorder also holds
a court of conscience for demands under 5s. late cur
rency: the process is by summons." Petty sessions are
held by the county magistrates every alternate Friday,
into which the criminal jurisdiction of the sovereign
(who is also, but not ex officio, a magistrate for the
county) has merged. Quarter sessions of the peace
were in former times regularly held for the borough,
when the vaults of Hussey's castle were used as the
town gaol. Within the last half century these sessions
have rarely been held; the last was in 1824, when a
schedule of tolls and customs was settled by the grand
jury. Under the new act, two sessions are to be holden
annually here, in April and October. The new bride
well is a small but substantial building, containing
two day-rooms, two yards, and six cells. Adjoining
the town are some tracts of rocky and indifferent moun
tain land, called "The Commons," the boundaries of
which are not defined; they are occupied indiscrimi
nately by the poorer class of inhabitants, by whom
some encroachments have been made in the erection of
cabins, and the enclosure of small portions of ground
for gardens: these are chiefly on the part called Milltown,
where about 30 cabins have been built.
The parish contains 11,779 statute acres, as applotted
under the tithe act, of which about one-fourth consists
of coarse mountain pasture, partly reclaimable; there
is a portion of bog, but not sufficient to supply the in
habitants with fuel. Sea-weed is extensively used for
manure, and the state of agriculture is gradually im
proving. Good building stone is found in the parish.
The principal seat in the vicinity is Burnham House,
the property of Lord Ventry, and now the residence of
his agent, D. P. Thompson, Esq., who has much im
proved the house and demesne. Burnham is situated
on the S. W. side of the harbour (on the border of the
adjoining parish of Kildrum), and commands a fine
view of the town and harbour of Dingle, and the range
of mountains at the foot of which they lie. The other
seats are, the Grove, the former residence of the Knights
of Kerry, now of J. Hickson, Esq., situated in a finely
wooded demesne immediately adjoining the town; Monaree,
of the Hon. R. Mullins; Farinikilla, the modern
mansion of P. B. Hussey, Esq.; and Balintagart, of
S. Murray Hickson, Esq. The living is an impropriate
cure, in the diocese of Ardfert and Aghadoe, and in the
patronage of Lord Ventry, in whom the rectory is im
propriate: the tithes amount to £315, payable to the
impropriator, who allows the curate £50 per annum
(late currency), and has allotted him the vicarial tithes,
amounting to £75, of the neighbouring parish, of which
his Lordship has the nomination. Lord Ventry also main
tains a chaplain, at a salary of £150 per annum, who is
resident in the town, and assists in the performance of the
clerical duties. The old church, which was dedicated to
St. James, is said to have been built by the Spaniards: it
was originally a very large structure. A part of it, called
St. Mary's Chapel, was kept in repair until the erection
of the present parish church, on the site of the ancient
edifice, in 1807: the latter was built by a gift of £1100
from the late Board of First Fruits; it is a plain struc
ture, and, having become too small for the increasing
congregation, is about to be enlarged and thoroughly
repaired; for which purpose a grant of £317-17. 4. has
been recently made by the Ecclesiastical Board. In the
R. C. divisions the parish is the head of a union or
district, which also comprises the parishes of Ventry,
Kildrum, Garfinagh, the south part of Cloghane, Kinnard,
and the greater part of Minard. The chapel at
Dingle is a handsome and spacious modern edifice, and
there are chapels at Ventry and Lispole. Adjoining the
chapel at Dingle is a convent for nuns of the order of
the Presentation, a branch from that of Tralee, estaDIN
Wished here in 1829; a neat chapel is attached, which
contains a finely and well executed altar-piece of the
crucifixion.
The parochial school is supported by subscription, and
is under the superintendence of the curate. A school
for boys, and a school at the convent for girls, have been
hitherto chiefly supported by the parish priest; the girls
are gratuitously instructed by the nuns, and are also
taught plain and ornamental needlework. A new schoolhouse,
for the accommodation, of about 500 boys, has
been lately erected in connexion with the National Board,
by whom two-thirds of the expense of its erection have
been defrayed, and the remaining third by subscription:
the total expense was about £300. Attached to Burnham
House is a school for Protestant female orphans,
originally established by Mrs. D. P. Thompson at Tralee,
during the cholera (in consequence of the number of
female orphans left destitute by that awful visitation),
and recently removed to Burnham House. They are
received on the recommendation of respectable parties,
who guarantee the payment of £5 per annum for each
towards the expense of their board, the deficiency being
made up by the patrons: the number is at present limited
to 16. The mistress receives from 25 to 30 guineas per
annum, from Mr. Thompson, at whose expense, also, the
school-house was fitted up and furnished, and who pro
vides the children's clothing. The gross number of
children educated in the parish, including three private
schools, is 400, of which about 290 are boys and 110
girls. The late Matthew Moriarty, Esq., left a house in
Dingle as a dwelling, rent-free, for eight poor widows;
it is kept in repair by his representatives, but the in
mates have no pecuniary allowance. Here is a dispen
sary. In the churchyard is a tomb of the Fitzgerald
family, with an inscription in Gothic characters, bearing
the date 1504. Of the ancient monastery which for
merly existed here, as a cell to the abbey of Killagh,
near Castlemaine, there are no remains. At Ballybeg,
north-east of the town, is a strongly impregnated mineral
spring, of a chalybeo-sulphureous nature, but not much
used for medicinal purposes; and along the shore of the
bay are several caves, in which are often found the beau
tiful crystallizations called "Kerry stones." From Con
nor Hill to the north-east of Dingle, on the road to
Castle-Gregory, a splendid view, embracing both sides
of the peninsula, is obtained. On one side is seen the
bay of Dingle, as far as the island of Valentia, with the
great Skellig rock in the distance, and the town and
harbour of Dingle lying immediately beneath; and on
the other side, Brandon bay and several bold headlands.
On each side are mountains, with wide and deep valleys
intervening, and numerous tarns or small lakes lying in
the hollows of the hills.