County Kerry
Contae Chiarraí
County
Coat of arms of County Kerry
Coat of arms
Nickname: 
The Kingdom
Motto(s): 
Comhar, Cabhair, Cairdeas  (Irish)
"Co-operation, Help, Friendship"
Location in Ireland
Location in Ireland
Coordinates: 52°10′N 9°45′W / 52.167°N 9.750°W / 52.167; -9.750
CountryIreland
ProvinceMunster
RegionSouthern
Establishedc. 1300[1]
County townTralee
Government
 • Local authorityKerry County Council
 • Dáil ÉireannKerry
 • European ParliamentSouth
Area
 • Total4,807 km2 (1,856 sq mi)
 • Rank5th
Highest elevation
(Carrauntoohil)
1,039 m (3,409 ft)
Population
 (2022)[2]
 • Total156,458
 • Rank15th
 • Density33/km2 (84/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC±0 (WET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+1 (IST)
Eircode routing keys
V23, V31, V92, V93 (primarily)
Telephone area codes064, 066, 068 (primarily)
Vehicle index
mark code		KY
WebsiteOfficial website Edit this at Wikidata

County Kerry (Irish: Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is in the Southern Region and the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county.[3] The population of the county was 156,458 at the 2022 census.[2]

A popular tourist destination, Kerry's geography is defined by the MacGillycuddy's Reeks mountains, the Dingle, Iveragh and Beara peninsulas, and the Blasket and Skellig islands. It is bordered by County Limerick to the north-east and County Cork to the south and south-east.

Geography and subdivisions

Kerry is the fifth largest of Ireland's 32 traditional counties by area and the fifteenth largest by population.[4] It is the second largest of Munster's six counties by area, and the fourth largest by population. Uniquely, it is bordered by only two other counties: County Limerick to the east and County Cork to the south-east. The county town is Tralee although the Catholic diocesan seat is Killarney, which is one of Ireland's most famous tourist destinations. The Lakes of Killarney, an area of outstanding natural beauty, are located in Killarney National Park. The Reeks District is home to Carrauntoohil, Ireland's highest mountain at 1,039 m. The tip of the Dingle Peninsula is the westernmost point of Ireland.

Baronies

There are nine historic baronies in the county. While baronies continue to be officially defined units, they are no longer used for many administrative purposes. Their official status is illustrated by Placenames Orders made since 2003, where official Irish names of baronies are listed under "Administrative units".

The Three Sisters, West Kerry.
  • Clanmaurice – Clann Mhuiris
  • Corkaguiny – Corca Dhuibhne
  • Dunkerron North – Dún Ciaráin Thuaidh
  • Dunkerron South – Dún Ciaráin Theas
  • Glanarought – Gleann na Ruachtaí
  • Iraghticonnor – Oireacht Uí Chonchúir
  • Iveragh (Peninsula) – Uíbh Ráthach
  • Magunihy – Maigh gCoinchinn
  • Trughanacmy – Triúcha an Aicme

Most populous towns

Rank Town Population
(2022 census)
1 Tralee 26,079
2 Killarney 14,412
3 Listowel 4,794
4 Kenmare 2,566
5 Castleisland 2,536
6 Killorglin 2,163
7 Dingle 1,671
8 Ballybunion 1,618
9 Cahersiveen 1,297
10 Milltown 1,118

Physical geography

Near Teeravane, County Kerry

Kerry faces the Atlantic Ocean and, typically for an Eastern-Atlantic coastal region, features many peninsulas and inlets, principally the Dingle Peninsula, the Iveragh Peninsula, and the Beara Peninsula. The county is bounded on the west by the Atlantic Ocean and on the north by the River Shannon. Kerry is one of the most mountainous regions of Ireland and its three highest mountains, Carrauntoohil, Beenkeragh and Caher, all part of the MacGillycuddy's Reeks range.

Just off the coast are a number of islands, including the Blasket Islands, Valentia Island and the Skelligs. Skellig Michael is a World Heritage Site, famous for the medieval monastery clinging to the island's cliffs. The county contains the extreme west point of Ireland, Dunmore Head on the Dingle Peninsula, or including islands, Tearaght Island, part of the Blaskets. The most westerly inhabited area of Ireland is Dún Chaoin, on the Dingle Peninsula. The River Feale, the River Laune and the Roughty River flow through Kerry, into the Atlantic.

Dingle Peninsula

Climate

The North Atlantic Current, part of the Gulf Stream, flows north past Kerry and the west coast of Ireland, resulting in milder temperatures than would otherwise be expected at the 52 North latitude. This means that subtropical plants such as the strawberry tree and tree ferns, not normally found in northern Europe, thrive in the area.

Because of the mountainous area and the prevailing southwesterly winds, Kerry is among the regions with the highest rainfall in Ireland. Owing to its location, there has been a weather reporting station on Valentia for many centuries. The Irish record for rainfall in one day is 243.5 mm (9.59 in), recorded at Cloore Lake in Kerry in 1993.[5]

In 1986 the remnants of Hurricane Charley crossed over Kerry as an extratropical storm causing extensive rainfall, flooding and damage.

History

Kerry (Irish: Ciarraí or in the older spelling Ciarraighe) means the "people of Ciar" which was the name of the Gaelic tribe who lived in part of the present county. The legendary founder of the tribe was Ciar, son of Fergus mac Róich.[8] In Old Irish "Ciar" meant black or dark brown, and the word continues in use in modern Irish as an adjective describing a dark complexion.[9] The suffix raighe, meaning people/tribe, is found in various -ry place names in Ireland, such as Osry—Osraighe Deer-People/Tribe. The county's nickname is the Kingdom.[10]

Lordship of Ireland

On 27 August 1329, by Letters Patent, Maurice FitzGerald, 1st Earl of Desmond was confirmed in the feudal seniority of the entire county palatine of Kerry, to him and his heirs male, to hold of the Crown by the service of one knight's fee. In the 15th century, the majority of the area now known as County Kerry was still part of the County Desmond, the west Munster seat of the Earl of Desmond, a branch of the Hiberno-Norman FitzGerald dynasty, known as the Geraldines.

Kingdom of Ireland

Gallarus Oratory near Dingle, which dates back to the 6th century.
Little Skellig, as seen from Skellig Michael.

In 1580, during the Second Desmond Rebellion, one of the most infamous massacres of the Sixteenth century, the Siege of Smerwick, took place at Dún an Óir near Ard na Caithne (Smerwick) at the tip of the Dingle Peninsula. The 600-strong Italian, Spanish and Irish papal invasion force of James Fitzmaurice Fitzgerald was besieged by the English forces and massacred.

In 1588, when the fleet of the Spanish Armada in Ireland were returning to Spain during stormy weather, many of its ships sought shelter at the Blasket Islands and some were wrecked.

During the Nine Years' War, Kerry was again the scene of conflict, as the O'Sullivan Beare clan joined the rebellion. In 1602 their castle at Dunboy was besieged and taken by English troops. Donal O'Sullivan Beare, in an effort to escape English retribution and to reach his allies in Ulster, marched all the clan's members and dependants to the north of Ireland. Due to harassment by hostile forces and freezing weather, very few of the 1,000 O'Sullivans who set out reached their destination.

In the aftermath of the War, much of the native owned land in Kerry was confiscated and given to English settlers or 'planters'. The head of the MacCarthy Mor family, Florence MacCarthy was imprisoned in London and his lands were divided between his relatives and colonists from England, such as the Browne family.

In the 1640s Kerry was engulfed by the Irish Rebellion of 1641, an attempt by Irish Catholics to take power in the Protestant Kingdom of Ireland. The rebellion in Kerry was led by Donagh McCarthy, 1st Viscount Muskerry. His son the Earl of Clancarty held the county during the subsequent Irish Confederate Wars and his forces were among the last to surrender to the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland in 1652. The last stronghold to fall was Ross Castle, near Killarney.

The Famine

In the 18th and 19th centuries Kerry became increasingly populated by poor tenant farmers, who came to rely on the potato as their main food source. As a result, when the potato crop failed in 1845, Kerry was very hard hit by the Great Irish Famine of 1845–49. In the wake of the famine, many thousands of poor farmers emigrated to seek a better life in America and elsewhere. Kerry was to remain a source of emigration until recent times (up to the 1980s). Another long term consequence of the famine was the Land War of the 1870s and 1880s, in which tenant farmers agitated, sometimes violently, for better terms from their landlords.

War of Independence and Civil War

Ross Castle and Lough Leane, Killarney National Park.

In the 20th century, Kerry was one of the counties most affected by the Irish War of Independence (1919–21) and Irish Civil War (1922–23). In the war of Independence, the Irish Republican Army fought a guerilla war against the Royal Irish Constabulary, and British military. One of the more prominent incidents in the conflict in Kerry was the siege of Tralee in November 1920, when the Black and Tans placed Tralee under curfew for a week, burned many homes, and shot dead a number of local people in retaliation for the IRA killing of five local policemen the night before. Another was the Headford Junction ambush in spring 1921, when IRA units ambushed a train carrying British soldiers outside Killarney. About ten British soldiers, three civilians and two IRA men were killed in the ensuing gun battle. Violence between the IRA and the British was ended in July 1921, but nine men, four British soldiers and five IRA men, were killed in a shoot-out in Castleisland on the day of the truce itself, indicating the bitterness of the conflict in Kerry.

Following the Anglo-Irish Treaty, most of the Kerry IRA units opposed the settlement. One exception existed in Listowel where a pro-Treaty garrison was established by local Flying Column commandant Thomas Kennelly in February 1922. This unit consisted of 200 regular soldiers along with officers and NCOs. A batch of rifles, machine guns and a Crossley tender were sent from Dublin. Listowel would remain a base for those supporting the treaty throughout the conflict.[11] The town was eventually overcome by superior numbers of anti-Treaty forces belonging to the Kerry No. 2 and 3 Brigades in June 1922. In the ensuing civil war between pro- and anti-treaty elements, Kerry was perhaps the worst affected area of Ireland. Initially the county was held by the Anti-Treaty IRA but it was taken for the Irish Free State after seaborne landings by National Army troops at Fenit, Tarbert and Kenmare in August 1922. Thereafter the county saw a bitter guerilla war between men who had been comrades only a year previously. The republicans, or "irregulars", mounted a number of successful actions, for example attacking and briefly re-taking Kenmare in September 1922. In March 1923 Kerry saw a series of massacres of republican prisoners by National Army soldiers, in reprisal for the ambush of their men—the most notorious being the killing of eight men with mines at Ballyseedy, near Tralee. The internecine conflict was brought to an end in May 1923 as the rule of law was re-established following the death of IRA Chief of Staff Liam Lynch, and the order by Frank Aiken to dump all arms.

Local government

County council

The local authority for the county is Kerry County Council. The council provides a number of services including planning, roads maintenance, fire brigade, council housing, water supply, waste collection, recycling and landfill, higher education grants and funding for arts and culture.[12]

The county is divided into five municipal districts with local responsibility: Corca Dhuibhne–Castleisland, Kenmare, Killarney, Listowel, and Tralee.

Town councils

Prior to the 2014 local elections held on 23 May 2014, Killarney, Listowel and Tralee each had town councils. They were abolished under the Local Government Reform Act 2014.

Parliamentary representation

Following boundary changes in 2016, Kerry is represented in Dáil Éireann by five TDs returned from a single Dáil constituency of Kerry. The TDs elected to the 33rd Dáil at the 2020 general election were Pa Daly (SF), Norma Foley (FF), Brendan Griffin (FG), Danny Healy-Rae (Independent) and Michael Healy-Rae (Independent).[13]

Culture

As a region on the extremity of Ireland, the culture of Kerry was less susceptible to outside influences and has preserved the Irish language, as well as Irish traditional music, song and dance. The Sliabh Luachra area of northeast Kerry, that borders Limerick and Cork, is renowned for its traditional music, dance and song, especially its slides, polkas and fiddle playing. The Siamsa Tíre centre in Tralee is a hub of traditional Irish pastimes. Corca Dhuibhne and Uíbh Ráthach are considered Gaeltacht regions and Irish culture is also very strong in these areas.

The Blasket Islands off the Dingle Peninsula are known for their rich literary heritage; authors such as Peig Sayers, Muiris Ó Súilleabháin and Tomás Ó Criomhthain have all written books about life on the islands, which were evacuated in 1953 due to increasingly extreme weather conditions that made them uninhabitable. John B Keane, a native of Listowel, is considered one of Ireland's greatest playwrights and is known for his works such as The Field, Sive and Big Maggie. The annual Listowel Writers' Week Festival serves as a celebration of Irish writers past and present.

Sport

Gaelic games

Kerry is known for its senior Gaelic football team. Gaelic football is by far the dominant sport in the county, and Kerry has the most successful of all football teams; the Kerry footballers have won the Sam Maguire cup 38 times, with the next nearest team Dublin on 30 wins.[14] Hurling is popular at club level in north Kerry, although the county has only won one All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, in 1891. The senior team currently compete in the Joe McDonagh Cup.[15]

Association football

The Kerry District League is the main competition for association football in the county. Tralee Dynamos have represented Kerry in the A Championship, while they and Killarney Celtic also competed in the Munster Senior League during the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Cricket

Cricket is played in County Kerry by County Kerry Cricket Club. They play their home games at the Oyster Oval near Tralee.[16]

Irish language

In 2011 there were 6,083 Irish language speakers in County Kerry, with 4,978 native speakers within the Kerry Gaeltacht. This does not count the 1,105 attending the four Gaelscoils (Irish language primary schools) and two Gaelcholáiste (Irish language secondary schools) outside the Kerry Gaeltacht.[17]

Places of interest

Lakes of Killarney
Cliffs on the Dingle Peninsula

Kerry, with its mountains, lakes and nearly 1,000 kilometres of Atlantic coastline is among the most scenic areas in Ireland and is among the most significant tourist destinations in Ireland. Killarney is the centre of the tourism industry, which is a significant element of the economy in Kerry. The Kerry Way, Dingle Way and Beara Way are walking routes in the county. The Ring of Kerry on the Iveragh Peninsula is a popular route for tourists and cyclists. The pedestrian version is the scenic Kerry Way which follows ancient paths generally higher than that adopted by the Ring of Kerry.

Kerry has an abundance of archaeological sites. The earliest evidence of human settlement dates to the Mesolithic period.[18] The county has a notably high concentration of open-air Atlantic rock art, which is believed to date to the Late Neolithic / Early Bronze Age period (2300-1500BC). This rock art is scattered throughout the county and exists in dense clusters on the Iveragh and Dingle peninsulas. These carvings form part of a tradition which stretches across Atlantic Europe and are distinct from the megalithic art of the type found at Newgrange.[19] Kerry has many Bronze Age monuments including standing stones, wedge tombs, boulder burials, and stone circles, along with Iron Age forts. Like the rest of Ireland, Kerry has large numbers of monuments from the Early Christian period, such as ring forts, churches, cross-inscribed stones, holy wells, saints' graves, and ogham stones, along with Medieval castles and churches.

Attractions:

Media

County Kerry has two local newspapers, The Kerryman and Kerry's Eye, both published in Tralee.

The county has a commercial radio station, Radio Kerry, which commenced operations in 1990. RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta has a studio in Baile na nGall in the west Kerry gaeltacht.[20] Spin South West has a studio in Tralee, which commenced operations in 2016.

Infrastructure

Road

The main National Primary Routes into Kerry are the N21 road from Limerick and the N22 road from Cork, each terminating in Tralee. Kerry Airport is situated on the N23 road between Castleisland and Farranfore which connects the N21 and N22. Within Kerry the main National Secondary Routes include the well-known Ring of Kerry which follows the N70 road that circles the Iveragh Peninsula and links at Kenmare with the N71 road to west Cork. The N86 road connects Tralee with Dingle along the Dingle Peninsula, while the N69 road from Limerick links Listowel and Tralee through north Kerry.

Greenways

There is a developing greenway network across the county. The North Kerry (part of the Great Southern Trail), South Kerry and Tralee-Fenit greenways are under-development or in the planning phases.

Rail

Killarney railway station

Kerry is served by rail at Tralee railway station, Farranfore railway station, Killarney railway station and Rathmore railway station which connect to Cork and Dublin Heuston, via Mallow.

Branch line services existed to each of the peninsulas (Beara, Iveragh and Dingle) and also to the north of the county. They were closed during the rationalisations of the 1950s and 1960s.

  • Tralee and Dingle Light Railway: a narrow-gauge railway that closed in July 1953.
  • Kenmare via Headford Junction: (8 miles outside Killarney) closed in early 1960.[21]
  • Valentia Harbour via Farranfore: also closed in early 1960. The Gleesk Viaduct near Kells, the viaduct at Killorglin, and many other structures on the line still exist.
  • Listowel was served via the North Kerry line, which extended from Tralee to Limerick. Passenger service ceased in 1963, freight in 1983 and the lines were pulled up in 1988.
  • Fenit was served via a branch off the North Kerry line until 1978; the rails are still in place.

Listowel to Ballybunion had the distinction of operating experimental Lartigue Monorail services from 1882 to 1924. A 500m section was re-established in 2003. A road-car route, the Prince of Wales Route, was a link from Bantry to Killarney, operated by the Cork, Bandon and South Coast Railway as a service for tourists.

Bus

Bus Éireann operates an extensive bus service network on routes throughout the county, with connection hubs in Killarney and Tralee.

Various local link services also run throughout Kerry such as the soon to be launched 274 from Tralee to Tarbert via Ardfert, Ballyheigue, Ballyduff and Ballybunion. Note that this new Local Link 274 will replace the return journey on the Bus Eireann 274. See https://www.locallinkkerry.ie/ for all buses operated by them throughout the county.

Air

Kerry Airport

Kerry Airport is located at Farranfore in the centre of the county and has operated scheduled services since 1989. Destinations served as of 2014 are London (Stansted & Luton), Frankfurt-Hahn Airport, Faro, Portugal and Alicante all operated by Ryanair. Aer Lingus Regional also operate an all-year-round service to Dublin. The airport is served by Farranfore railway station.

Sea

Fenit Marina

Fenit harbour near Tralee is a regional harbour capable of handling ships of up to 17,000 tonnes. Large container cranes from Liebherrs in Killarney are regularly exported worldwide. A rail-link to the port was closed in the 1970s. The harbour at Dingle is one of Ireland's secondary fishing ports.[22] In the north of the county, a ferry service operates from Tarbert to Killimer in County Clare.

Hospitals

Hospitals in Kerry include the public University Hospital Kerry which is the second-largest acute hospital in the Health Service Executive South Region. It serves as the main hospital for County Kerry and also serves the people in parts of north Cork and west Limerick. Other hospitals include the private Bon Secours Hospital in Tralee and community hospitals in Cahirciveen, Dingle, Kenmare, Killarney and Listowel.

Education

The Munster Technological University (MTU), former the Institute of Technology, Tralee, is the main third-level institution in the county. It was established in 1977 as the Regional Technical College, Tralee but acquired its present name in 1997. The Institute of Technology, Tralee, merged with Cork Institute of Technology in 2019 to form the Munster Technological University. It has an enrolment of about 3,500 students. The institute has two campuses: the North Campus (opened in Dromtacker in 2001) and the South Campus (opened in Clash in 1977) approximately 2.4 km (1.5 mi) apart.

Septs, families, and titles

A number of Irish surnames are derived from septs who hail from the Kerry area, such as Falvey, Foley, McCarthy, Murphy, O'Connor, O'Moriarty, Clifford, Kennelly, McGrath, O'Carroll, O'Sullivan, O'Connell, O'Donoghue, O'Shea, Quill, Scannell, Stack, Sugrue and Tangney.

The area was also home to the Hiberno-Norman families, the FitzMaurices and the Desmonds, a branch of the FitzGeralds.

Titles in the British Peerage of Ireland with a family seat in Kerry are:

Viscount Valentia appears to have been associated with lands in County Armagh, rather than Kerry. The title Baron Monteagle of Brandon refers to Brandon, County Kerry.

People

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Kerry – Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837)". www.libraryireland.com. Archived from the original on 21 June 2019. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 "Census of Population 2022 – Preliminary Results". Central Statistics Office (Ireland). Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  3. ↑ "The History Press | Kerry: A kingdom worthy of the name". www.thehistorypress.co.uk. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  4. ↑ Corry, Eoghan (2005). The GAA Book of Lists. Hodder Headline Ireland. pp. 186–191.
  5. ↑ "Rainfall – Climate – Met Éireann – The Irish Meteorological Service Online". Met.ie. Archived from the original on 2 June 2007. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
  6. ↑ Census for post 1821 figures Archived 9 March 2005 at the Wayback Machine. For 1653 and 1659 figures from Civil Survey Census of those years, Paper of Mr Hardinge to Royal Irish Academy 14 March 1865.t For a discussion on the accuracy of pre-famine census returns see JJ Lee, "On the accuracy of the Pre-famine Irish censuses Irish Population, Economy and Society" edited by JM Goldstrom and LA Clarkson (1981) p.54, and also "New Developments in Irish Population History, 1700–1850" by Joel Mokyr and Cormac O Grada in The Economic History Review, New Series, Vol. 37, No. 4 (Nov. 1984), pp. 473–488.
  7. ↑ "Census 2016 Sapmap Area: County Kerry". Central Statistics Office (Ireland). Archived from the original on 28 October 2018. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
  8. ↑ T J Barrington, Discovering Kerry, its History Heritage and toponymy, Dublin, 1976
  9. ↑ Gearrfhoclóir Gaeilge-Béarla, Dublin, 1981
  10. ↑ Tossell, Mary. "History, Geography, Facts about County Kerry". Rootsweb.ancestry.com. Archived from the original on 14 April 2012. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
  11. ↑ Listowel and its Vicinity. Anthony Gaughan. 1973.
  12. ↑ "All Services". Kerry County Council. Archived from the original on 27 April 2011. Retrieved 11 February 2011.
  13. ↑ "Kerry: As it happened". RTÉ. 10 February 2020. Archived from the original on 17 January 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  14. ↑ "Roll of Honour". Cumann Lúthcleas Geal. Archived from the original on 23 August 2008. Retrieved 26 September 2008.
  15. ↑ "Kerry GAA – Hurling – Clubs and Information". gaainfo.com. Archived from the original on 14 March 2009. Retrieved 26 September 2008.
  16. ↑ Browne, P. J. (11 June 2018). "In Pictures: Scenery Of Kerry Cricket Ground Will Make You Pick Up A Bat". www.balls.ie. Archived from the original on 28 January 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  17. ↑ "Oideachas Trí Mheán na Gaeilge in Éirinn sa Ghalltacht 2010–2011" (PDF) (in Irish). gaelscoileanna.ie. 2011. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 April 2012. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
  18. ↑ Bennett, I. (1987). "The Archaeology of County Kerry" Archaeology Ireland, 1(2), 48–51. Retrieved 17 June 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/20558252 Archived 29 June 2021 at the Wayback Machine
  19. ↑ Bradley, R. 1997. "Signing the Land; Rock Art and the Prehistory of Atlantic Europe", Routledge, London.
  20. ↑ "Labhair Linn". RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta. Archived from the original on 27 December 2010. Retrieved 19 December 2010.
  21. ↑ "Kenmare's Last Train – Amharc Éireann: Eagrán 32". 18 July 2016. On the 1st of February 1960, Kenmare locals and railway workers looked on as the last train made its final journey on the tracks before the line closed
  22. ↑ "Kerry". Welcome To Ireland. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
  23. ↑ "Mark Lanegan Reflects on a Prolific Literary Year, Leaving the U.S. Due to the Pandemic". Spin. 23 December 2020. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
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