- Source: Mary from Dungloe (festival)
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.
Participating communities
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:
Traditional festival events
There are a number of traditional events which are run every year as part of the festival. Here are just a few examples:
2024 Contestants
The 2024 'Marys' for the festival were as follows:
Niamh Kerrigan – Birmingham
Orla Sheridan – Cavan
Clare O’Donnell – Donegal
Gemma Doherty – United Arab Emirates (Dubai)
Molly Part – Dublin
Áine McGee – Dungloe
Kaylin Healy – Edinburgh
Leah Ní Dháibhéid – Gaeltacht
Mairead McEnroe – Glasgow
Kyna Boyle – London
Caitlin Therese Ward – New York
Scarlett Catalfamo – Philadelphia
Marina Boyle – Wicklow
Molly Gallagher – Wild Atlantic Way
The Donegal Mary, Clare O’Donnell, was crowned the 2024 Mary from Dungloe at the crowning cabaret on 4 August.
Contest winners
Below is a complete list of contest winners from 1968 to 2023.
Entertainers and musicians
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.
Daniel O'Donnell, Boyzone, Brian Kennedy, Donal Lunny, Altan, The Hothouse Flowers, Goats Don't Shave, Nathan Carter, Christy Moore, The Sawdoctors, Paul Brady, Shane McGowan.
Barry Sinclair, Jimmy Buckley, Hugo Duncan, Mad Dog Macrea, Louise DaCosta, Riverdance, Jake Carter and many more.
Famous comperes
The Mary From Dungloe contest final has been compered by a number of famous faces.
Gay Byrne
Daniel O'Donnell
Marty Whelan
Pat Kenny
Thelma Mansfield
Gerry Kelly
Noel Cunningham
Dave O'Connor
References
External links
Official website
Linda Farrell Is Mary From Dungloe, 1986 episode of Faces and Places from the RTÉ Television archives
https://www.donegallive.ie/news/donegal-life/874310/winner-of-the-2022-mary-from-dungloe-international-arts-festival-is-chosen.html
https://www.donegaldaily.com/2022/08/01/london-mary-caitlin-is-the-2022-mary-from-dungloe/
https://www.donegallive.ie/news/west-donegal/874370/gallery-2022-mary-from-dungloe-winner-london-mary-caitlin-finn.html