Back to Dingle

Residents of one of Ireland's most famous towns have voted in favour of changing its name back to the one which has given it worldwide recognition. eople living in Dingle have voted to reverse its name from An Daingean, as it is now officially known after the Placenames Act of 2004, back to its better known English form.

The town's name was officially changed last year. However, public outcry to the change reached such levels that Kerry County Council decided to hold a referendum on the issue.

Voters had the choice between An Daingean on the one hand, or Dingle-Daingean ui Chuis.

Friday's poll showed that the vast majority of the town's population want the town's official name to be reversed back to Dingle - with 1,005 out of an electorate of 1,222 voting in favour of Dingle-Daingean ui Chuis.

The decision to change Dingle's name to An Daingean was part of the Irish government's efforts to protect and promote the ancient Irish language by decreeing that all official place names within Gaeltacht areas had to be in Irish.