Product Code Database
Kenmare () (2026). 000719160X, HarperCollins Publishers. 000719160X is a small town in the south of County Kerry, Ireland. The name Kenmare is the Anglicisation form of Ceann Mara, meaning "head of the sea", referring to the head of Kenmare Bay. It is also a townland and civil parish.
Kenmare is in the Kerry constituency of Dáil Éireann.
The entire area was granted to the English economist and scientist Sir William Petty by Oliver Cromwell as part payment for completing the mapping of Ireland, the Down Survey in 1656. He laid out the modern town circa 1670. Before him, a previous surveyor of Ireland, Sir Valentine Browne (1510–1589), ancestor of the Earl of Kenmare, was granted some lands in County Kerry during the resulting plantation, the Munster Plantation.
The three main streets that form a triangle in the centre of the town are called Main Street (originally William Street, after William Petty, 1st Marquess of Lansdowne), Henry Street (originally Sound Road), after the son of the 1st Marquis and Shelbourne Street (Henry Petty became the first Earl of Shelburne). This name was also later applied to Shelbourne Road in Dublin.
The convent in the town, the Poor Clare Sisters, was founded in 1861 when five nuns including Sister Mary Frances Cusack (The Nun of Kenmare), who was also an author and publisher of many books, moved to Kenmare from their convent in Newry, County Down. Under the guidance of Mother Abbess O'Hagan in 1864 a lace-working industry was established and Kenmare lace became noted worldwide. The convent no longer exists and Pobalscoil Inbhear Scéine secondary school occupies this site since 2001.
A suspension bridge, which is claimed to be the first in Ireland, over the Kenmare River was opened in 1841 and served the community till 1932 when it was replaced by a new concrete bridge.
During and after the Civil War (1922–1923), there were a number of incidents in Kenmare, including the killing of O'Connor brothers in September 1922 by the Anti-Treaty IRA, and the brutal assault against the allegedly Unionist daughters of a local doctor by three Dublin Guard officers led by Paddy Daly in 1923 (which is sometimes referred to as the 'Kenmare incident'). Kenmare was briefly held by the Anti-Treaty IRA, during the Irish Civil War, before being successfully retaken by the Irish Army in December 1922.
The town library is one of the Carnegie library funded by Andrew Carnegie. It opened in 1918, and the architect was R.M. Butler. Article from Kenmare Historical Society The library building is now home to the Carnegie Arts Centre and theatre, hosting a local drama group and a number of travelling productions each year, as well as music and comedy nights. Carnegie Arts Centre in Kenmare Co. Kerry : Drama, Music, Film, Dance and More
Holy Cross Catholic Church in Kenmare was consecrated in 1864. It was built under the guidance of Archdeacon Fr. John O'Sullivan – who is interred within the church. The church has stained glass windows by O'Connor London (1863), by Caseys Dublin (1864) and by Earley Dublin (1864). The organ is by Telford & Telford(1865). Buried in the church grounds is Monsignor Francis Cremin (died 2001), who was a periitus or theological expert at Vatican II. He was a native of Kenmare and had been Professor of Canon Law and Moral Theology at St Patrick's College, Maynooth from 1949 until 1980. He was a brother of Con Cremin, an Irish diplomat, who represented Ireland in France and Germany during World War II and subsequently in Portugal, the Holy See, the United Kingdom and at the United Nations.
The Church of Ireland church of St Patrick celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2008.Church of Ireland Gazette, page 3, 3 October 2008 The town has been a winner in the Irish Tidy Towns Competition in 2013, 2000 and was a runner-up in 2003 and 2008.
Since the late 1990s the tourism industry has driven local construction work, with land being sold at high prices to developers wishing to build housing estate of vacation rental. This has led to an increase in the town's population, particularly during the peak tourist season, and prompted fears among some residents that the town is becoming overdeveloped and losing much of its identity. Fast-changing times for Kenmare The Kerryman (registration required)
Kenmare was home to composer Ernest John Moeran for a number of years up to his death and a local bar was named after him – but has since been renamed. Diplomat Con Cremin was also from Kenmare, as is senator Mark Daly. Writer Anna McPartlin grew up in Kenmare, and her 2007 novel Apart from the Crowd was set in the town.
Francis Brennan is the owner of the five-star Park Hotel in Kenmare. He and his brother John, owner of the nearby Dromquinna Manor Hotel in Templenoe, are known for their TV series "At Your Service".
The N71 also connects Kenmare to Killarney on a mountainous and scenic part of the Ring of Kerry route via Moll's Gap and Ladies View. Alternatively one can reach Killarney via the slightly longer but more comfortable route through Kilgarvan. Kenmare also lies on the N71 national secondary road south-Cork route to Glengarriff. In November 2014, the Eastern Relief Road was opened, allowing drivers from the R569 Kilgarvan Road to bypass the town centre when accessing the supermarkets and schools.
Kenmare railway station opened, in October 1893, as the terminus of a branch from the Great Southern and Western Railway's Mallow–Tralee line at Headford Junction. The station closed, along with the branch, in early 1960 and the last passenger train ran on 1 February 1960. The track was lifted shortly afterwards.
Kenmare Kestrels Basketball Club was founded in 2006 and competes in the Kerry Area Basketball League.
The local soccer team Inter Kenmare F.C. competes in the Kerry District League at U17, Youth & Senior Men's/Women's level and in the Kerry Schoolboys/girls League for all underage teams.
Overlooking Kenmare River and adjacent to the Park Hotel is the 18 hole, Kenmare Golf Club.
The eponymous song "As I leave behind Neidín" was written by Jimmy MacCarthy and recorded by Mary Black amongst others.
The town was also referenced in the episode "". The crew aboard the spaceship answer questions received from school children who are said to be from Kenmare.
|
|
