Tralee & Environs (Co. Kerry)
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East of Tralee
The east of Tralee features some of the oldest local landmarks.
Ratass church dates from early Christian times, and the incorporated Ogham Stone suggests the area had significance from an even earlier period. The C11th stone church is unusual, and was briefly important after it was included in the list of Sees drawn up by the Synod of Rathbreasail in 1111, which marked the transition of the Irish Church from a monastic to a diocesan and parish-based organisation: however, its jurisdiction was transferred to Ardfert in 1117.
The Old Tralee Workhouse was where thousands perished during the Great Famine.
The Ballyseedy Memorial commemorates an infamous atrocity carried out by Free State troops in 1923 when nine IRA prisoners were taken from the prison in Tralee and blown up with a land mine. The sculpture is by Yann “Renard” Goulet, a Breton nationalist and WWII Nazi collaborator.
Ballyseede Castle
Ballyseede Castle was granted as a perpetual lease in 1584 to Robert Blennerhassett, the rent being one red rose to be presented each year on Midsummer’s Day. His descendants occupied Ballyseede until 1966.
It is now an upmarket hotel located in its own thirty acres of gardens and woodland. Inside the impressive lobby, Doric columns frame an elegant wooden bifurcating staircase of fine oak joinery, almost unique in Ireland. In the library bar there is a great-carved oak chimneypiece over-mantle dated 1627. There is also a splendid Banqueting Hall.
The castle is widely believed to be haunted by the ghosts of Landlords past, known to walk the long corridors in the basement level. One, fondly called Hilda by castle habitués, is known to make her presence felt on 24th March each year.
South of Tralee
Several tourist-orientated attractions have been developed south of Tralee in an attempt to attract more visitors.
The Aquadome, resembling a cross between an ancient castle and glass spaceship, provides splashy excitement for all of the family.
The Tralee and Dingle Light Rail system has been partially restored by local enthusiasts, who have brought back an original Hunslet steam engine from the USA to pull carriages imported from Spain along the famously picturesque narrow-gauge track between Tralee and Blennerville.
The Tralee Ship Canal
The Tralee Ship Canal stretches from about half a mile beyond Blennerville Quay to Prince’s Quay, right on the edge of Tralee town, and was once very important.
Blennerville‘s port, established in the mid-C18th, silted up rapidly, and local merchants soon became very discontented. In 1828 a petition on behalf of the gentry and merchants of Tralee was made to the House of Commons by Maurice Fitzgerald, the Knight of Kerry, and in 1829 a Local Act of Parliament sanctioned the completion of a ship canal from the town to the sea. Work began during the 1830s and was completed in 1846.
For many years the canal brought ships of up to 300 tons right up to the town to discharge their cargoes. Gradually, however, the problem that had beset Blennerville, silt deposit build-up, also occurred in the canal. Over a period of time the canal became impossible to navigate and fell into disuse, gradually replaced in importance by Fenit and the railway. It has only recently been restored.
Blennerville is best known for its 200 year old working windmill, Ireland’s largest, and also the tallest of its kind in Europe at 21.3m high. This striking landmark is now the centrepiece of a major craft complex that includes a multi-lingual audio-visual presentation on the history of the area and an exhibition on C19th emigration from Co. Kerry.
Blennerville House was the residence of Blennerville’s founder, Sir Rowland Blennerhassett, who is known to have lived here in 1783; however, the building probably dates from the late C17th. It was acquired by the Chute family in the mid-C19th, and sold by Capt. Richard Chute in 1919. It is now the home of the Johnson family.
Jeanie Johnston
Jeanie Johnston, a three-masted barque built in Quebec in 1847, traded out of Tralee, transporting emigrants from the Great Famine and its aftermath to North America and timber back to Europe.
In 2000 the construction of a replica of the C19th ship was undertaken by young volunteers from all over the world under the supervision of master shipwrights; the work began in Fenit Harbour, and continued later in Blennerville’s shipyard.
In 2002 she sailed to Canada and the USA. She has taken part in the Tall Ships Race and currently operates out of Dublin as a sail training ship.
Tralee is located on a very ancient route over the Slieve Mish Mountains. On this old track there is a large boulder called Scotia’s Grave, supposedly the burial place of an Egyptian princess.
West of Tralee
Fenit (An Fhianait – “The Wild Place”) (pop. 450) is a village on Tralee Bay with a several good pubs and restaurants.
Fenit Harbour includes Fenit Pier and the 130-berth Fenit Marina, and is connected to the land by a long causeway and viaduct, where many locals and visitors like to fish. Freight import and export and leisure craft / tourism are the main areas of business. Tralee Bay Sea Angling Club, the largest angling club in Ireland, have their clubhouse on the marina breakwater in the harbour.
Fenit History
In the disastrous aftermath of the Spanish Armada in 1588, the sloop Nuestra Señora del Socorro (75 tons) anchored at Fenit, where it surrendered to Crown officers. The 24 men on board were taken into custody and marched to Tralee castle where, on the orders of Lady Margaret Denny, they were all hanged from a gibbet.
In April 1916, in an ill-fated plan arranged by Sir Roger Casement, the village was the intended landing place for arms and ammunition from Germany. The ship Aud was scuttled in Cork Harbour by the captain to prevent the British forces from seizing the cache.
On 8th August 1922, during the Irish Civil War, Fenit was the scene of a major landing by 450 Free State troops from the Lady Wicklow, as part of an offensive to re-take Republican held Tralee. The republican forces had intended to blow-up the pier if an attack was launched but the charges were rendered inoperable by unknown persons in an attempt to minimise damage to the port.
In 1984, a Fenit registered boat, the Marita-Ann, attempted to import arms bought clandestinely in the USA on behalf of the IRA, but was intercepted by the Irish Navy vessels LE Emer and LE Aisling along with members of the Garda Síochána and its crew arrested. The present Sinn Fein TD for North Kerry, Martin Ferris was one of several convicted of possession of explosive substances for unlawful purposes and possession of firearms and ammunition with intent to endanger life. He served 10 years in prison.
The local fishing industry has all but ceased due to EU quota limits and competition from larger fleets from Spain and France. Until 2006, French companies still used the port to land fish, which was then transported directly to the European mainland. There are plans to further increase the size of the marina and develope the pier.
Fenit House and its grounds dominate the village on the shore-side of the main road into the village. Built in 1910, it was formerly the Fuller / Hurley manor house.
Other notable buildings include the Customs House, now derelict; the redbrick RIC Barracks, now private houses; and the stone built Lifeboat House, now disused.
Fenit Island is a populated island connected to the mainland by a sandbar. Located in Tralee Bay, the island encloses Barrow Harbour. Historically, the area was called ‘Fenit Within’, it is adjacent to the areas of ‘Tawlacht’ and ‘Fenit Without’ on the mainland. The terms within/without refer to the walled protection that protected the island from attackers from the landward side. The island is accessible by car at low tide, by driving on the beach. Saint Brendan the Navigator was born on Fenit Island.
Fenit Castle, a late 16th or early C17th tower house, was built by the FitzMaurice family the to protect the entrance to Barrow Harbour.
Barrow Harbour is a tidal inlet off Tralee Bay. It was once the major port for the region, servicing the monastic settlement of Ardfert and the general area of Tralee.
Barrow House is located at the old quayside.
The old disused railway between Fenit and Tralee has been converted into a walkway and cycleway to link up with the Great Southern Trail.North of Tralee
Sporting grounds dominate the northern area of the town.
The Austin Stack GAA grounds offer great facilities for both players and supporters.
The Tralee Sports Centre with an impressive gym, pool, and sport fields.
Tralee Race Course is the venue for the bi-annual Tralee Races.
The Kingdom Greyhound Stadium offers racing several times a week.
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