Ardfert

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Ardfert (Irish: Ard Fhearta, meaning "the hill of miracles") is a village and civil parish in County Kerry, Ireland. Historically a religious centre, the economy of the locality is driven by agriculture and its position as a dormitory town, being only 8 km (5 mi) from Tralee. The population of the village was 749 at the 2016 census.^[1]

Origin

The village's name signifies, according to Sir

Ardfert is a parish in the Barony of Clanmaurice, County Kerry, Ireland, anciently in the territory of Ui Fearba/Hy Ferba, of which the O'Laeghain (O'Leyne, Leen or Lane) were once the Gaelic Lords, until Norman invasion of Ireland.

Ardfert is the home of St. Brendan's

A large tomb in the grounds of the cathedral was built much later by John O'Donnell (1803–1879), the most prominent descendant two centuries later, and whose own direct male descendant was the late

The area's archaeological heritage includes the medieval cathedral, St. Brendan's, and associated churches, Temple na Hoe (Church of the young Virgin) and Temple na Griffin. Several have these have become heritage tourism attractions in the Kerry area due to their central location.^{[citation needed]} The 13th century Franciscan Friary, to the north east of the village, was once an integral part of Ardfert Abbey - not an abbey at all but the name of the Talbot-Crosbie mansion destroyed by fire in 1922 by the IRA.

Five other structures included on the

In the 20 years between the 1996 and 2016 census of Ireland, the population of Ardfert village increased from 648 to 749 inhabitants.^[7]

It is located within an agricultural area, surrounded by flat and low-lying land.

Ardfert is located on the R551 regional road from Tralee to Ballyheigue. The village centre is located at a crossroads between the R551 and several local roads. The traffic is increased by the quarry to the north east of the village which generates HGV traffic movements through the village.^{[citation needed]} During the summer months, the situation is exacerbated by tourist traffic to coastal locations.^{[citation needed]} The Tralee-Ballyheigue road at the northern end of the village sees bottleneck delays in traffic into and out of the village.^{[citation needed]}

Ardfert railway station, on the line from Limerick to Tralee via Newcastle West, opened on 20 December 1880. The station closed to passengers on 4 February 1963, and to freight on 2 June 1978.^[9] The track was lifted in 1988.

Sport

Gaelic games

Ardfert GAA, the local Gaelic football club, won the All-Ireland Junior Club Football Championship in Croke Park on 19 February 2006 beating Loughrea of Galway. The club's accomplishments also include winning the 2007 All-Ireland Intermediate Club Football Championship, defeating Derry and Ulster Champions Eoghan Rua, on 10 March 2007 again in Croke Park.^{[citation needed]}

The local hurling club is St Brendan's, Ardfert. They have won the Kerry Senior Hurling Championship on 8 occasions, most recently in 2013.^{[citation needed]}

Other sports

A short lived greyhound racing track was opened in the village on 21 August 1929. The venture run by the Kingdom Greyhound Racing Club and only lasted until Wednesday 25 September 1929. The last race was the Ardfert Stake which was won by Captain Off, the even money favourite. The main reason for the closure was the fact that a larger track called Oakview Park (to the south in Oakview Village) was due to open.^[10]

The eventing horse "Village Gossip", ridden between 1976 and 1985 by British team rider Lucinda Green (née Prior Palmer), was born and bred in Ardfert. He completed Badminton Horse Trials on several occasions, placing second in 1978 and was the fastest competitor at the World Three Day Event in Lexington, Kentucky, the same year.^{[citation needed]}

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ardfert.

• Ardfert (constituency)
• List of abbeys and priories in Ireland (County Kerry)
• List of towns and villages in Ireland

Further reading

• Ardfert in Times Past, Tommy O'Connor, 1999,
  ISBN 0951573616
• Ardfert Church 150 : A history of St. Brendan's Church, Ardfert 1855 - 2005, Tommy O'Connor, 2005
• Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland (Annála Ríoghachta Éireann) by the Four Masters, from the earliest period to the year 1616, compiled during the period 1632-1636 by Brother Michael O'Clery, translated and edited by John O'Donovan in 1856, and re-published in 1998 by De Burca, Dublin (Volume VI, page 2279).
• The Life of Hugh Roe O'Donnell, Prince of Tyrconnell (Beatha Aodh Ruadh O Domhnaill) by Lughaidh O'Cleirigh. translated with notes by Rev. Denis Murphy, S.J., M.R.I.A., and published by Sealy, Bryers, & Walker, Dublin, 1893 (pages 305–307); also later edition edited by Paul Walsh and Colm Ó Lochlainn. Irish Texts Society, vol. 42. Dublin: Educational Company of Ireland, 1948 (original Gaelic manuscript in the Royal Irish Academy in Dublin).
• A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (Two Volumes), by Samuel Lewis, London, 1837 (see entry on Ardfert in Volume I, pages 47–50)
• Discovering Kerry; its History, Heritage and Topography, by T.J. Barrington, Blackwater Press, Dublin, 1976 (pages 252–255).
• Vanishing Kingdoms - The Irish Chiefs and Their Families, by Walter J. P. Curley (former US Ambassador to Ireland), with foreword by
  ISBN 1-84351-056-1
  ]. (Chapter on O'Donnell of Tyrconnell, page 59).