480th Anniversary of signing of Treaty of Dingle

Treaty times back in Dingle

The commemoration of a signing of a significant piece of European legislature will be marked in Dingle this Friday as the Dingle Historical Society prepare to host a number of events celebrating 480th anniversary of the Treaty of Dingle, which was ratified in 1529. Pre-dating Ireland's entry into the EEC by 440 years, the Treaty of Dingle was a founding piece of Common European legislature, giving rise to a series of entente, alliances and subsequent treaties which formed the basis of a common European ideal, culminating in the formation of a European Union, where common laws and protocols are adhered to by member states. The Treaty of Dingle was signed between the 11th Earl of Desmond, James Fitzgerald and Don Gonzalo Fernandez, the Ambassador Plenipotentiary of the Holy Roman Emperor of the German Nation and King of Spain, Charles V & I. The terms of the treaty also gave rise to a major progression in human rights legislature as the Treaty of Dingle gave a formal legal and constitutional foundation to the rights of citizenship and other privileges that Irish exiles and emigrés enjoyed in Hapsburg Spain, Hapsburg Austria and Hapsburg Netherlands (present-day Belgium & Luxembourg), from the 16th to the early 20th centuries. An incredible 480 years after the signing of the Treaty, the occasion will be marked by the unveiling of a special commemorative plaque by the Spanish Ambassador to Ireland, H.E. Dona Mercedes Rico at Dingle's Temperance Hall. This will be followed by a special lecture on the Treaty of Dingle itself by Dr. Declan M. Downey, Lecturer in History, University College Dublin at local educational institute, An Díseart on Green Street. The event will begin with a parade by the Dingle Fife and Drum band from O'Flaherty's Pub on Bridge Street to the Temperance Hall on Goat's Street at 7.15pm. Following the unveiling by the Ambassador at 7.30pm, Dr. Downey, an authority on Ireland's relationship with the Hapsburg Empire, will deliver his lecture on the Dingle Treaty at An Díseart, Green Street, Dingle at 8.15pm. All are welcome to attend.Pictured, l-r, Bernie Goggin and Dr. Conor Brosnan at the new commemorative plaque at Dingle's temperance hall on Upper Main Street/Goat's Street.