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family · Sunday 28 June 2026 · 12:00pm 
Toy Library Swap & Play Event
At An Halla Mór · Dungloe, Co. Donegal
At An Halla Mór · Dungloe, Co. Donegal
Bringing kids along to swap a bag of outgrown toys for something new to them is one of those ideas that sounds obvious once you hear it. The Toy Library Swap & Play is a free community event run by The Toy Library - an Irish organisation built around the circular economy - where families arrive with toys their children have moved on from and leave with ones that feel brand new. It is an easy Sunday outing for parents of younger children, and the play session built into it means the kids are entertained while the swapping happens. No pressure to spend, no landfill guilt.
The format is simple. Bring along clean, working toys your household no longer needs - anything from soft toys and board games to plastic figures and puzzles. You hand them over, browse what others have brought in, and take home something different. The Toy Library has run this format at venues across Ireland, and by their own count more than 8,000 toys have been rehomed through their events nationally.
The Dungloe session runs for two hours at An Halla Mór - a historic community hall at the centre of village life. Originally built in 1913 as the Parochial Hall (the locals always called it “the Big Hall”), it hosted boxing tournaments, cinema nights, dances, and Irish dancing classes through most of the twentieth century. It has been going through restoration in recent years, with funding coming in to bring back a proper stage, lights, and sound. It is a good space for a family morning out - familiar to anyone from the area, and easy to find.
The event is free and no pre-registration appears to be needed beyond a ticket reservation on Eventbrite, which keeps numbers manageable.
Dungloe (An Clochán Liath) sits on the N56 in west Donegal, roughly 35 kilometres south-west of Letterkenny and about 30 kilometres north of Ardara. From Letterkenny, follow the N56 all the way west through Crolly. From Donegal town, take the N15 north to Ballybofey, then pick up the R250 westward through the Bluestack foothills and on to Dungloe - allow around an hour and fifteen minutes.
There is no direct rail to Dungloe. Bus Eireann route 492 connects Letterkenny and Dungloe, with a couple of services on Sundays. Parking in the village is generally straightforward on a Sunday morning, with space along the main street and near the hall.
Dungloe is the main town of the Rosses, a stretch of coast and lakelands with some of the most dramatic scenery in Donegal - the area rewards a longer look if you can stay for the afternoon. There is more to see in Dungloe and across Co. Donegal.
Heading to An Halla Mór in Dungloe? Donegal has plenty more to see. Read the Dungloe area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.