County Kerry (
Irish:
Contae Chiarraí) is a
county in
Ireland. It is located in the
South-West Region and is also part of the
province of
Munster. It is named after the pre-Gaelic tribe who lived in part of the present county.
Kerry County Council is the
local authority for the county. The population of the county is 145,502 according to the 2011 census.
Kerry is the 5th largest of the 32 counties of Ireland by area and the 13th largest by population.
[1] 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. The diocesan see 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 tip of the
Dingle Peninsula is the most westerly point of Ireland.
In 1913 my dad was born in Ballyduff.
Ballyduff (
Irish:
An Baile Dubh, meaning "black village") is a village near
Listowel,
County Kerry,
Ireland. Located on R551 between
Ballyheigue and
Ballybunion on hills above
Cashen Bay where the
River Feale flows to the sea at the mouth of the
River Shannon.
One of my favorite spots in Ballyduff is Rattoo where you can visit a beautiful
round tower
that reaches a height of 28m, with a base circumference of 15m. This is the
only complete round tower in Kerry, and possibly dates from the late
10th or early 11th centuries. In the mid-19th century, the tower sat on a
raised earth causeway in what was then a swamp. The swamp was drained
and the causeway removed in the late 19th century so the fields could be
cultivated. You can see a photo of the beautiful round tower in the photos section of this website. On 1 November 1920, the
Black and Tans
shot local man, John Houlihan, dead and burned the creamery to the
ground. Canon William Ferris, the author of "The Gaelic Commonwealth"
and many other works, lived here.
Ballyduff is successful in both Gaelic Football and Hurling. The club won the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final in 1891, when the team was trained by James McDonnell. This is the only time that the title was won by a Kerry team. McDonnell also trained greyhounds and won the prestigious Waterloo cup. Ballyduff won the North Kerry Senior Football title in 2006, after defeating Listowel Emmets in the final. Ballyduff also won the County Senior Hurling Championship in the same year, defeating Causeway by 1-16 to 1-11 in the final.Ballyduff is also home to the soccer team Rattoo Rovers who play in the Kerry District League.
In 1928 my mom was born in Sneem (Irish: An tSnaidhm). She was one of ten children born to Agnes and Joseph O'Connor. Sneem was a tidy town is situated in the Ring of Kerry on the Iveragh Peninsula (part of the Ring of Kerry) in County Kerry in the southwest of Ireland. It lies on the estuary of the River Sneem. National route N70 runs through the town.
The Irish town name, "An tSnaidhm", means "The Knot" in English. One
explanation of the name is that a knot-like swirling is said to take
place where the Sneem river meets the currents of Kenmare Bay in the estuary just below the village.
Sneem village comprises two squares, North and South. A bridge in the
middle of the village, viewed from overhead, acts as a knot between the
two squares. A less common explanation is that Sneem is the knot in the
scenic Ring of Kerry.
A book, Sneem, The Knot in the Ring, recounts the area's history.[1] In 2000, a time capsule was buried in the centre of the town, to be opened in 2100.[2]
