Killarney

Killarney Cill Airne
Location
File:Ireland map County Ked.png
Coordinates: 52°03′32″N 9°30′26″W / 52.0588°N 9.5072°W / 52.0588; -9.5072
Irish grid reference V969909
Statistics
Province:	Munster
County:	County Kerry
Elevation:	50 m
Population (2006)  - Town:  - Environs:	13,426   3,505
Website: www.killarney.ie

Killarney (from the Irish: Cill Airne meaning "church of sloes")^[6] is a town in County Kerry, southwestern Ireland. The town is located north of the MacGillicuddy Reeks, on the northeastern shore of the Lough Lein/Leane which are part of Killarney National Park. The town and its surrounding region is home to St. Mary's Cathedral, Ross Castle, Muckross Abbey, Torc Waterfall and Gap of Dunloe.

Killarney was awarded the "Best Kept Town" award for 2007 in a cross-border competition jointly organised by the Department of the Environment and the Northern Ireland Amenity Council. Owing to its natural heritage, history and proximity to the Dingle Peninsula, Skellig Michael island and its location on the Ring of Kerry, Killarney is a popular tourist destination.

Transport

Killarney is served by National Primary Route N22 (north to Tralee and Castleisland, south to Cork) and National Secondary Route N72 (west to Killorglin, east to Waterford).

There are train services to Tralee, Limerick, Cork and Dublin operated by Iarnród Éireann. Bus Éireann provides bus services to Limerick (and onwards to Dublin), Tralee, Cork, Kenmare and Skibbereen. Killarney railway station opened on 15 July 1853.^[7]

Kerry Airport, in Farranfore between Tralee and Killarney, provides an increasing number of air services. Cork Airport, easily accessible by bus or rail, also serves the Kerry region.

Sport

Association football

Killarney has two association football clubs—both of which compete in the Kerry District League.

Killarney Athletic was founded in 1965. Originally the club played in the centre of Killarney, but have since moved to a modern facility (with two pitches) in the Woodlawn area of the town.

Killarney Celtic was founded in 1976. The club purchased their own ground in 1993 and have invested in their facilities since then.^[8] There are two grass pitches (one floodlit to match standard) and a 70 x 35 metre synthetic training pitch which is also fully floodlit.

Gaelic games

Killarney has three Gaelic football teams: Dr. Crokes, Killarney Legion and Spa. The rural hinterland has a large number of football teams, such as Kilcummin, Fossa, Firies, Glenflesk and Gneeveguilla. All these teams compete in the Kerry County league and the East Kerry Senior Football Championship (O'Donoghue Cup) and league.

Dr Crokes are the most successful of these teams, with the most notable triumphs being the capture of the All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship in 1992 and the Munster Senior Club Football Championship in 1991 and 1990. The club has also won the County Championship on 6 separate occasions, the last being in 2000. Dr Crokes are the only club in Killarney with a hurling team, which has had some important successes, most recently winning the Kerry Intermediate Hurling Championship in 1999 and 2001.

Rowing

There are six active rowing clubs in the town, who share a common history in Ireland's oldest surviving regatta, the Killarney Regatta, which is held annually on the first or second Sunday in July. The six clubs are Commercial RC (Killarney), Flesk Valley RC, Fossa RC, Muckross RC, St. Brendan's RC and Workmen RC. The style of rowing seen at the regatta is traditional, fixed seat rowing in wide, wooden 6 person boats. Since the eighties, a number of the clubs have moved toward coastal type rowing and modern 'slide' or Olympic style rowing.

Muckross Rowing Club is the largest and most successful of the clubs, having developed into a full time 'sliding' club with 24 National Championships (since 1996) at various levels from Junior to Senior. A number of members of the club have also been selected to row for Ireland and have competed successfully at the Home International Regatta, Coupe de la Jeunesse, World Rowing Championships and Olympic Games. Paul Griffin and Sean Casey, members of Muckross Rowing Club and Cathal Moynihan, a former member, are Olympic and Irish World Championship rowers. Paul Griffin, racing in Irish Mens Lightweight Four, finished sixth at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, won a silver medal at the 2005 World Championships and a bronze at the 2006 World Championships. As a member of the Lightweight Four, Paul was overall category winner of the 2006 World Cup Rowing series. Sean Casey represented Ireland in the Mens Heavyweight Four at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. In the same crew, Sean also won the 'B' final (seventh overall) at the 2006 World Championships and won bronze at the 2006 Munich World Cup Regatta. Cathal Moynihan joined Paul Griffin in the Irish Lightweight Four, which raced at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Cathal made his international Senior début in the Mens Lightweight Four at the 2007 Linz World Cup Regatta in Austria.

Other

Killarney Rugby Club competes in the Munster Junior 1 League Division 3. Killarney Cycling Club is involved in road racing, cross country mountain biking, and has had recent success in downhill mountain biking.

The Order of Malta Ambulance Corps also has a unit in Killarney. With over 60 Senior members and 40 Cadets (under 16's), the unit is celebrating its 70th year in the town.

Industry

Hosiery manufacturing and shoe making were major industries in the town during the last century but have since seen decline. Liebherr Cranes have had a presence in Killarney since 1958, with a combined manufacturing/research and development facility in the town. Dollinger-SPX, a filtration products firm and KMG Killarney Plastics have production facilities in the local IDA Industrial Estate. Indigenous firms such as Torc Engineering and National Organic Products have established small industries in Killarney. Muckross Weavers have a small tableware and woolens business aimed at the tourist market. The Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism have also moved to Killarney, a key beneficiary of the decentalisation of Civil Service departments outside the capital, Dublin. Certain sections of the Department of Justice have been situated in Killarney for a number of years.

Tourism

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Tourists near Ross Castle.

Tourism is by far the largest industry in Killarney. With the exception of Dublin, there are more hotel beds in Killarney than in any other Irish town or city. The tourist population is increasingly diverse however a significant proportion of tourists originate from the US, Ireland, the UK, Germany and other European countries.

Killarney's tourism history goes back at least to the mid 1700s, when Thomas, fourth Viscount Kenmare, began to attract visitors and new residents to the town. The date of 1747 was used in recent 250-year celebrations to honour the history of Killarney tourism. A visit by Queen Victoria in 1861 gave the town international exposure, which it has enjoyed ever since. In the Summer months, Killarney is busy with tourists perusing the town's numerous shops and tourist attractions. Many shops are tourist oriented with many gift shops around the town. The town centre also offers a wide range of hotels, pubs and restaurants to cater for every requirement. Killarney is also famous for its jaunting cars (horse drawn carts) operated by local jarvies. Tourists can avail of jaunting car rides and a guided tour of the town's attractions offered by the jarvies.

Killarney SummerFest^[9] is a highlight of the year in the town, featuring outdoor and indoor concerts from major Irish and international acts. Previous acts include Snow Patrol, The Cranberries, Bryan Adams, The Corrs, Westlife, Tom Jones, Kris Kristofferson, David Gray, Pink, Shane Ward and KT Tunstall. In 2009, the SummerFest played host to the only Irish concert for 2009 of the Pussycat Dolls supported by Industry^[10]. Other events during the SummerFest 2009 included outdoor theatre, art exhibitions, children's events, and the annual SummerFest Black Tie Ball. Sporting events during the festival included the Ring of Kerry Charity Cycle, the Killarney Regatta, the 5km SummerFest Fun Run and the Killarney Races.

Attractions

Ross Castle

• Lakes of Killarney
• Killarney National Park
• Muckross House
• The Black Valley
• Aghadoe
• Ross Castle - this square medieval tower was built by the O'Donoghues on the shores of Lough Lein in the 15th century. Now restored, the castle houses a collection of sixteenth and seventeenth century oak furniture. Ross Castle is the departure point for boat tours on Lough Lein.

Nightlife

Killarney is a popular destination for partygoers. Killarney's nightspots are often busy seven days a week during the summer months, when the population of the town and the surrounding area increases significantly.

Car rallying

Until the early 1980s, Killarney was the destination of the Circuit of Ireland Rally, which was held every year over the Easter holiday weekend. Nowadays, on the first weekend of May each year, the town plays host to the International Rally of the Lakes. The rally brings spectators in their thousands to watch the top tarmac rally crews do battle over the classic stages of the southwest.

In recent years the event has attracted vast numbers of "boy racers" and an increase in public order offences. The 2008 event saw a large Gardaí presence in the town to tackle such problems but the event was still marred by 64 arrests in the town for various degrees of public order offences including burnt out cars, destruction of property and numerous reckless driving arrests ^[11]

People

• Dick Fitzgerald, Kerry Gaelic footballer
• Paul Coghlan, Senator
• John O'Leary, former TD
• Edward Eagar, lawyer and convict
• Michael Fassbender, actor
• Hugh Kelly, writer
• Michael Moynihan, former TD
• Breeda Moynihan-Cronin, former TD
• Michael McElhatton, soccer player
• Diarmuid O'Carroll, soccer player
• Brendan Moloney, soccer player
• John M. O'Sullivan, TD
• Colm Cooper, Gaelic footballer.
• Eoin Brosnan, Gaelic footballer.
• Seán Kelly, MEP, former President of the GAA and Chairman, Irish Institute of Sport
• Gillian O'Sullivan, athlete , racewalker - former Olympian, world record holder and silver medallist at the World Athletics Championships 2003.
• Tadhg Lyne, three times All-Ireland Senior Football Championship winner with the Kerry GAA Gaelic football team.
• Jessie Buckley, singer, actress and finalist in the I'd Do Anything BBC series.
• Eileen Sheehan, Poet

Twinning

	Country		Place		County / district / region / state	Date
	Italy		Castiglione di Sicilia		Province of Catania	1986
	U.S.		Concord		North Carolina	1993
	U.S.		Springfield		Illinois	1997
	U.S.		Cooper City		Florida	2003
	U.S.		Myrtle Beach		South Carolina	2007
	United Kingdom		Kendal		Cumbria
	Germany		Pleinfeld		Bavaria

See also

• List of towns and villages in Ireland
• Ring of Kerry
• County Kerry
• Killarney National Park
• St. Brendan's, Killarney

References