Mary from Dungloe (festival)

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A typical scene at the Mary From Dungloe Festival, 2005.

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:

Event	Traditional Location
Opening Ceremony	Main St.
Introduction of MFD Contestants	Main St.
Open Air Music	Main St.
Art Exhibition	Sharkey's Service Station
Fun Fair	The Cope Car Park
Sports Day	Dungloe Gaelic Athletic Association Grounds
Men's Golf Open
Ladies Golf Open	Cruit Island Golf Club
Treasure Hunt	Main St.
Annual 5K Road Race	Main St.
Fly Fishing Competition	Dungloe Marina
Little Miss Mary Competition	Parochial Hall
Table Quiz	Maghery Community Centre
Junior Table Quiz	Ionad Teampall Cróine
Social Evening with the Marys	Various
Historic Tour of the Rosses	Departs Main St.
Interviewing of the MFD Contestants	Airport
Bonny Baby Show	Parochial Hall
Daniel O'Donnell in Concert	Festival Dome
Parade	Main St.
Band Competition	Main St.
MFD Contest Final	Festival Dome
Gala Ball
Closing Ceremony	Main St.

This list of songs or music-related items is incomplete; you can help by . (October 2021)

2020 Contestants[]

As the festival has been cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid-19, the 2020 contestants or 'Marys' will take part in the 2022 festival.

These contestants are as follows

• Caitlin Finn – London Mary
• Claire Hassett – Tipperary Mary
• Shannon Hester – Bayonne Mary
• Sarah Lawlor – San Francisco Mary
• Kaitlyn Likas – Washington DC Mary
• Ellenor Thompson – Glasgow Mary
• Saoirse Stevenson – New York Mary
• Olivia Lisowski – Philadelphia Mary
• – Donegal Mary
• – Dungloe Mary
• – Gaeltacht Mary
• – Wild Atlantic Way Mary

They will be guided by the reigning Mary Roisin Maher from New York.

Contest winners[]

Below is a complete list of contest winners from 1968 to 2007.

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
• Barry Sinclair, Jimmy Buckley, Hugo Duncan, .

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
• Dave O'Connor

External links[]

• Official website
• Linda Farrell Is Mary From Dungloe, 1986 episode of Faces and Places from the RTÉ Television archives