The town and the county were so named after her husband and co-monarch Philip who was the titular King of Ireland.

From his wife's death in 1558 he no longer held royal status in England or Ireland, and was soon afterwards crowned as Philip II of Spain.

[citation needed] A bog body, given the name Old Croghan Man, was found near Daingean in 2004 and featured on the BBC Two Timewatch programme in January 2006.

[citation needed] Daingean is surrounded by the Bog of Allen and Bord Na Mona (BnM) remains a local employer, however the number employed is much reduced from the heyday when local people made a living working at the briquette factory and on the bog.

[citation needed] The ESB power station at nearby Rhode was also a significant employer before its closure.

Even in the period of high unemployment in the 1980s, the ESB and BnM trained local men in their apprenticeship programmes.

[17] The festival includes a raft race on the Grand Canal, a parade, traditional threshing, a karaoke competition and a children's day.

[17] On the Friday night of the festival, the Tullamore Harriers Athletic Club organise a 5 km road race which makes four loops of the town.