| Castleisland Oileán Chiarraí |
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| Location | ||
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| Irish grid reference Q998099 |
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|---|---|---|
| Statistics | ||
| Province: | Munster | |
| County: | County Kerry | |
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Population (2006) |
2,170 | |
| Historical populations | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Pop. | %± |
| 1821 | 1,539 | — |
| 1831 | 1,569 | 1.9% |
| 1841 | 1,687 | 7.5% |
| 1851 | 2,582 | 53.1% |
| 1861 | 1,702 | −34.1% |
| 1871 | 1,767 | 3.8% |
| 1881 | 1,466 | −17.0% |
| 1891 | 1,559 | 6.3% |
| 1901 | 1,497 | −4.0% |
| 1911 | 1,333 | −11.0% |
| 1926 | 1,269 | −4.8% |
| 1936 | 1,325 | 4.4% |
| 1946 | 1,427 | 7.7% |
| 1951 | 1,491 | 4.5% |
| 1956 | 1,654 | 10.9% |
| 1961 | 1,718 | 3.9% |
| 1966 | 1,673 | −2.6% |
| 1971 | 1,929 | 15.3% |
| 1981 | 2,226 | 15.4% |
| 1986 | 2,281 | 2.5% |
| 1991 | 2,207 | −3.2% |
| 1996 | 2,233 | 1.2% |
| 2002 | 2,162 | −3.2% |
| 2006 | 2,300 | 6.4% |
| [1][2][3][4][5] | ||
Castleisland (Irish: Oileán Chiarraí), pronounced "castle island", is a busy market town and commercial centre in County Kerry in south west Ireland. The town is renowned for the width of its main street—it is the second widest in Ireland and second only to the famous O'Connell Street in the capital city, Dublin. Castleisland has a population of 2,170.[6]
Castleisland was described by one of its most well-known citizens, journalist Con Houlihan, as 'not so much a town as a street between two fields'.
Contents |
History
Castleisland was the centre of Desmond power in Kerry. The town got its name, Castle of the Island of Kerry, from a castle built in 1226 by Geoffrey Maurice (or de Marisco), who was the Lord Justice of Ireland during the reign of King Henry III.[7] The island was created by turning the waters of the River Maine into a moat around the castle.
Sometime in the 120 years after its construction the castle was taken by the forces of the Earl of Desmond. It is known that in 1345 the castle was being held for the Earl of Desmond by Sir Eustace de la Poer and other knights when it was captured by Sir Ralph Ufford, Lord Justice of Ireland. Sir Eustace and the other knights were captured and executed.[7] Little is known of the further history of the castle and few ruins are left of it today. The main ruin is the de Marisco tower, located behind some private houses at the western end of the town, on the Killarney Road.
The Black and Tans and the Irish Republican Army (IRA) were active in Castleisland during the Irish War of Independence in the 1920s. On 9 May 1921, two Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) men were shot by the IRA outside Castleisland Parish Church;[8] one of the men died. On 10 July in the same year, five IRA men and four British soldiers were killed during a gunfight in the town.
Geography
Castleisland is often considered the Gateway to Kerry, as the main road to all towns in Western and Southern Kerry passes through here - the N21 from Limerick continues on to Tralee while the N22 goes to Killarney and other towns in Southern Kerry.
The Glenaruddery mountains to the north and the Stacks to the west define the beginning of the 'Vale of Tralee', at the mouth of which Castleisland is situated. Most of the land around Castleisland is pasture for dairy stock, with bogland located at various locations around the town, particularly to the east and south.
Buildings of note
- The Gothic styled Church of St. Stephen and St. John was designed by Doolin.
- The Carnegie Trust Library Building which was designed by R.M. Butler in 1920 was located at the eastern end of Castleisland's main street and burned to the ground in the same year. It was subsequently rebuilt on the same site. The function of town library was moved to new premises in the late Summer 2008, but the building is still used as the district court for the area.
Places of interest
- Crag Cave, one of the most extensive cave systems in Ireland open to the public, is located just outside Castleisland.
Transport
Castleisland railway station opened on 30 August 1875, closed for passenger traffic on 24 February 1947 and for goods traffic on 3 November 1975, finally closing altogether on 10 January 1977.[9]
Sport
Castleisland Desmonds is the local Gaelic Athletic Association club. They won the All Ireland Club Football Championship Final in 1985 beating St. Vincents of Dublin. the team was captained by William(Billy) Lyons.- Castleisland Rugby Football Club U16's was the first rugby club in Kerry, under all age groups, to win a Munster Championship title. Captained by William Casey.
- An Ríocht Athletics Club, established in 1973, is located at Crageens in Castleisland. It's facilities include an international standard 400 metre tartan athletics track and a soccer pitch.
People
- Businessman Mike McAuliffe operates one of South West Ireland's largest and longest running transport companies McAuliffe Trucking from a depot outside the town. He is also Kerry's largest pig producer.
- Mick Galway, Irish rugby international player and coach. He hails from Currow.
- Con Houlihan, Irish sports journalist and columnist for the Evening Herald.
- Charlie Nelligan, who was the Kerry GAA goalkeeper for many years during the 1970s and 1980s. He won All Ireland football medals playing with Kerry and has also trained the Kerry Minor Footballers in recent years. Charlie played his club football with the
Castleisland Desmonds , who won the All Ireland Senior Club Championship in 1985. Charlie now runs coffee shops in Tralee and Castleisland.
International relations
Twin towns — Sister cities
Castleisland is twinned with the town of Bannalec in France.
See also
References
- ^ Census for post 1821 figures.
- ^ http://www.histpop.org
- ^ http://www.nisranew.nisra.gov.uk/census
- ^ Lee, JJ (1981). "On the accuracy of the Pre-famine Irish censuses". in Goldstrom, J. M.; Clarkson, L. A.. Irish Population, Economy, and Society: Essays in Honour of the Late K. H. Connell. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press.
- ^ Mokyr, Joel; O Grada, Cormac (November), "New Developments in Irish Population History, 1700-1850", The Economic History Review Volume 37 (Issue 4): 473–488, doi:, http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/120035880/abstract
- ^ Census 2006, Central Statistics Office (Ireland)
- ^ a b Castleisland, GENUKI, http://homepage.eircom.net/~dinglemaps/genuki/KER/Castleisland/index.html, retrieved 2009-05-01
- ^ The History of W. H. O'Connor, Rhyno Mills, http://www.rhyno.ie/wh-history.htm, retrieved 2009-05-01
- ^ "Castleisland station" (PDF). Railscot - Irish Railways. http://www.railscot.co.uk/Ireland/Irish_railways.pdf. Retrieved 2007-09-16.
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