Ireland Diaries: A dolphin dilemma

Visiting a town in Ireland with a very particular problem

On the main street in Dingle, a small town in County Kerry, right by the harbour, there’s a statue of the town’s most famous son. He’s immortalised in bronze, and he looks very happy about it. He’s smiling from ear to ear, or he would be, if he had any ears. He doesn’t have any ears because he’s not a politician or a singer or even a Gaelic football player. He’s a dolphin.

He’s a dolphin called Fungie, to be exact, and the bronze version of him has sat happily in the middle of the town since the year 2000. By that time Fungie had been swimming in the bay around the town since 1983, and if any Dingle local deserves a statue, it’s him.

Walk around the town and it’s easy to see why. Sure, Dingle is beautiful. It sits right on the water and has spectacular views of the day. It compliments these with streets of brightly painted houses that give Balamory a run for its money.

But Fungie deserves a statue over every human in the town because now, he is the town. He’s everywhere. There’s the statue, which is particularly good, because you can sit on it. There are the advertisements for Fungie boat tours, sea safaris, an aquarium, there’s even a dolphin shop (which does not sell dolphins, alas, alas).

Since 1983 Fungie has hung around in the sea near the harbour, gladly playing the town hero to those who travel to see him. Boats go out into the bay and there he is, larking about. He’s big business.

It’s fair to conclude then that Dingle is, and I’m fairly certain it’s alone in this, a dolphin town. Which is a problem, because Fungie’s gone.

No, really. He has. In October 2020 Fungie abruptly disappeared. In case you were still in any doubt about the importance of this one aquatic mammal to the town of Dingle, you should know that local residents sent out search parties. They scoured the bay for any sign of Fungie, but he hasn’t been seen since.

Rumours and theories abound as to what’s happened to Dingle’s favourite son. I hear plenty from those who live nearby. The conventional wisdom is that the pandemic meant there were no boat tours going out into the bay, and eventually, Fungie thought no one was coming to see him, so he took off.

That’s the cheerful, peaceful version. Some say Fungie was shot, some that he never existed at all, and that Fungie was actually just many dolphins that the townspeople mistook for one.

There are whispers that he was spotted in Cork recently. I think this is my favourite explanation, since it sounds like Fungie has had enough of small town life, and has decided to move his act to the big city. This just seem wishful to some, though, and one local is more matter-of-fact: “Fungie’s dead.”

Whether or not Fungie comes back, and local experts say it is doubtful, Dingle is committed to its shtick. If you’re having a bad week I suggest visiting Dingle and looking at one its many Fungie-related businesses and thinking, “well, at least I don’t have those sort of problems.”

But even if your week is going great or good or just pretty much average, you should visit Dingle. It has sea views and pubs and bookshops and some of the best ice cream you’ll ever eat. And once you’ve done all of that you can go down to the marina and sit on a bronze statue of a dolphin. Because where else can you do that?

---

A question for you.

Visiting Dingle made me wonder what animal I’d theme my town around, if I had one. I think I’d go with anything other than a fish, considering my name. Tell me what your town would be themed around.

---

Some housekeeping.

If you’d like to discover more newsletters like mine, you can subscribe to The Sample, which curates the best newsletters and sends you those worth subscribing to. You can subscribe through this link. Doing so helps this blog get more readers so please do check it out.