Knightstown, County Kerry
Knightstown
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| Irish Grid Reference | V422773 |
Knightstown (
History
In 1830 Maurice FitzGerald, the 18th Knight of Kerry, commissioned Scottish engineer Alexander Nimmo to draw up plans for a new village. During the 1840s, development began on what was initially known as the New Town of Valentia.[3]
Locality
The local
Knightstown is also the location of the car ferry connection between Valentia Island and Reenard Point on the mainland.
The area served as a base of operations for the laying of the first successful Transatlantic telegraph cable to Heart's Content, completed in 1866. A cable station operated until it was closed in 1966. The history of the transatlantic cable and artifacts from it can be seen at the local history museum located in Knightstown.[5]
Knightstown participates in the annual "Tidy Towns" competition where it is regularly recognized for the quality and cleanliness of its environment.[6]
See also
- R565 road (Ireland) which runs through Knightstown to the ferry
- List of towns and villages in Ireland
- List of RNLI stations
References
- ^ a b "Census 2016 – SAPMAP Area – Settlements – Knightstown". Census 2016. CSO. 2016. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
- ^ Placenames Database of Ireland
- ^ "Knightstown" (PDF). West Iveragh Settlements Local Area Plan. Kerry County Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 November 2010. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
- ^ RNLI Lifeboat Station History Archived 2010-06-04 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Valentia Heritage Centre
- ^ Knightstown Tidy Towns Report 2018
