For more than 55 years, Dinos has been part of family life in Cork. Now, the much-loved family chip shops are celebrating the people and organisations who make our communities special. This week, the spotlight is on Summer Sing, Cork’s children’s arts and music festival, where young imaginations take centre stage.
There are some names that just feel like home, pure Cork, and Dinos is one of them.
It’s the bag of chips after a match, the Friday evening treat, the family gathering around the table, or the familiar face behind the counter who knows your order before you’ve even asked.
And family is where the Dinos story began.
Back in 1970, Denis Cregan, affectionately known to generations of Cork people as Dino, opened his first chip shop on Tower Street, with his wife Mary working alongside him.
They shared a tremendous work ethic, a belief in doing things properly, and a determination to build something good for their family and their city.
More than half a century later, that little chip shop has grown into one of Cork’s best-loved family businesses, with eight locations across the city and county, and three generations of the Cregan family involved.
Denis and Mary raised seven children, who have played an important part in the business’s success, while grandchildren have also spent time working in the shops.
Dino’s famous philosophy, “You’re only as good as your last bag of chips,” says a lot about the man and the family behind the name. It’s about taking pride in what you do and never forgetting the customers who helped you along the way.
Over the years, Dinos has also quietly supported local sports clubs, charities, volunteers and community organisations across Cork.
Through this special series with All About Cork, the family is shining a light on some of those wonderful people making a difference.
This week, it’s the turn of Summer Sing, Cork’s only children’s arts and music festival, and its Festival Director, Sinéad Dunphy.
Every July, children aged five to 15 come together with professional musicians, theatre-makers and artists for a week of creativity, friendship, laughter and discovery.
There are no scripts handed out on the first morning, no ready-made characters waiting to be played, and no adults deciding exactly what the finished show should look like.
Instead, the children take the lead. The ideas, the stories, the songs and the characters all come from them.
For Sinéad, who became Festival Director in 2021, that is what makes Summer Sing so special.
“I believe in the power of children’s creativity, and that we as adults can trust them with it if we give them the space,” she explains.
As a child growing up in Waterford, Sinéad experienced that freedom herself through Waterford Youth Drama.
“Having really good adults like Ollie Breslin back me gave me a confidence that carried me through my life, and it’s what led me to work professionally in the arts and cultural sector ever since.”
It’s a gift she now wants to pass on to the next generation.
“When I took over Summer Sing, I wanted the children to be the ones creating, not just learning someone else’s show. Now they come up with everything: the story, the characters, the lyrics, the movement.”
“Our artists are there to help them make it as good as it can be, but the ideas are theirs. By the Friday, they’re on stage performing something that didn’t exist on the Monday.”
Just imagine the pride of those children, and their families, watching something that began as a little idea on a Monday morning become a full musical production by Friday.
This summer, that creation was The Tree Nobody Trusted, an original musical story written, sung and staged by the children themselves.
“Every year, everyone in the room, young or old, is amazed by what the children have created and so are we.”
Sinéad is determined that a family’s circumstances should never decide whether a child gets that opportunity.
For every paid place at Summer Sing, the festival offers a free place to a child who might otherwise miss out.
That includes children experiencing financial hardship or housing insecurity, children in foster or residential care, children from migrant and refugee communities, and children with disabilities.
“Talent isn’t decided by your postcode, your bank balance or your circumstances,” Sinéad says.
“When you put children from all different backgrounds in a room and ask them to make something together, they just get on with it. They don’t see the barriers the way adults do.”
Making those opportunities possible takes dedication, generosity and practical support from the wider community.
“Having businesses large and small behind us makes it all possible for the children we get to work with,” Sinéad says.
“Local businesses like Dinos, whether through fundraising or even feeding a team, are a huge part of that.”
This autumn and winter, Cork shoppers have a chance to lend a hand too.
Summer Sing has been selected for the Tesco Community Fund at Tesco Paul Street in Cork city.
When you’re shopping, simply collect a blue token at the checkout and pop it into the Summer Sing collection box in store.
“It’s incredible to have this opportunity from a large organisation like Tesco,” Sinéad says.
“If the token collection goes well, we’ll be over the moon knowing it will make our 2027 programme even better. Every token counts.”
And of course, we couldn’t let Sinéad go without asking the all-important question.
What’s her favourite Dinos order?
“Garlic cheese chips and their southern fried chicken. I don’t think anyone does it better.”
Now that’s a Cork woman who knows a good thing when she finds it!
From a family chip shop on Tower Street to a children’s festival where imaginations can run wild, there’s a lovely thread connecting Dinos and Summer Sing: the belief that giving people a chance can lead to wonderful things.
And who knows? Among the children taking to the Summer Sing stage today could be Cork’s great performers, musicians and storytellers of tomorrow.
Cork runs on Dinos, at the heart of Cork since 1970.
Visit dinostakeaway.ie for more.
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