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An Clochan Liath is the name you'll see on signposts as you approach DUNGLOE , referring to the grey-coloured stepping stones which were once used to cross the town's river. The modern anglicized version comes from Dun an Ghleo , meaning "noisy fort", a name you might consider apposite as you stroll down its bustling main street. For most of the year, there's little to detain you except entertainment in the pubs. At the beginning of August, however, the Mary From Dungloe festival, a local, more wholesome variation of Miss World, provides a good pretext for general festivities and late-night drinking. There's no antiquity behind the festival's origins or name - it dates from 1968 and the title comes from a hit single by the Emmet Spiceland band (including the now notable traditional musician Donal Lunny whose mother hails from the Rosses village of Rann na Feirste). Dungloe is also synonymous with the rejuvenating work of Paddy 'the Cope' Gallagher (1871-1966), who envisaged the salvation of these then poor communities through cooperative ventures, in particular by reducing their dependency on gombeen men (moneylenders). Oddly enough, the enterprise's practical origins lay in Paddy's discovery that the price of manure was reduced when purchased by societies. As a result, he founded the Templecrone Co-operative Agricultural Society (the "Cope") in 1906 and its main branch still stands proudly on Dungloe's main street with branches throughout the Rosses. Copies of his entertaining autobiography, My Story , are available in a local edition from the supermarket. The tourist office (June-Aug Mon-Sat 10am-6pm; tel 075/21297) is just off Main Street, to the left as you go downhill towards the bridge. Upmarket accommodation is provided by Ostan Na Rossan , Mill Rd (tel 075/22444, ostannarossan@iol.ie ; GBP90-110/?114.28-139.67), with its own leisure centre and pool. On the same road are the B&Bs Roninnis House (April-Sept; tel 075/21094; GBP33-40/?41.90-50.79) and Sea View (March-Nov; tel 075/21353) and, in the centre, Atlantic Bar , Main St (tel 075/21061; GBP40-55/?50.79-69.84), which also has a bar and provides meals. Greene's Holiday hostel (tel 075/21021) on Carnmore Road is a modern building with camping in its grounds. There's a handy laundry nearby on the Gweedore road (Tues-Fri 9am-1pm & 2-6pm). The popular Coffee Dock serves excellent value lunches; other eating choices include Doherty's Restaurant , a good low-priced grill, with The Court House restaurant upstairs and the Riverside Bistro near the bridge for more upmarket, though reasonably priced, fare. The Tirconnaill bar at the top end of the street is a genuine old-timers' bar with not a note of music interfering and a fabulous view of the ocean. Beedy's Bar has sessions on Tuesdays and there's assorted entertainment in the Bayview Lounge at weekends. The Central Bar , in the middle of Main Street, is open during summer only, after more than twenty years in which nothing seems to have been touched - a fascinating old place. Fishing tackle and permits for local fisheries are available from Bonner's, Main Street.
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