Ardfert

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.

[2] The village's name signifies, according to Sir James Ware, "a wonderful place on an eminence", or as some interpret it, "the hill of miracles."

The Norman influence can still be seen not only in the architecture, but also in local family surnames such as the Cantillons (Barons de Ballyheigue), and Fitzmaurices,[citation needed] and in place names, such as Ballintobeenig, a nearby townland below Mt.

[5] Under the terms of a royal grant in letters patent of James I of England on 6 July 1612, the Lord of Kerry (FitzMaurice) could hold courts baron and leet.

The Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland, recount how in 1601, Prince Hugh Roe O'Donnell, on his way to the Battle of Kinsale, sent some of his kinsmen troops there to reconquer Ardfert, Lixnaw, and Ballykeally for his ally FitzMaurice.

From there he sent an expedition to Ardfert, to win a quick victory and recover the territory of his ally, Fitzmaurice, Lord of Kerry, who had lost it and his 9-year-old son, to Sir Charles Wilmot.

The family seat of John O'Donnell, at Tubrid mentioned by Samuel Lewis in his 1837 Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, passed through a female line to the O'Carrolls.

The house expanded by John O'Donnell in Tubridmore was listed as an intended "protected structure" in the archaeological monuments section of the draft Kerry County Development Plan 2015–2021.

Five other structures included on the Record of Protected Structures (RPS) are located in Ardfert; St Brendan's Catholic Church (consecrated in 1855), the Old Gates of the Earl of Glandore's Demesne, the Talbot-Crosbie Memorial, the Ardfert Parish Room (now a site registered as derelict by Kerry County Council) and Brandon House.

The development of a central retail and social node has been constrained to some extent by need to protect historic buildings and monuments within the village.

been permitted on the existing Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) grounds, with replacement facilities planned elsewhere on the periphery of the village.

[citation needed] Ardfert railway station, on the line from Limerick to Tralee via Newcastle West, opened on 20 December 1880.

[13] 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.

Ardfert Cathedral
Tomb of John O'Donnell in the grounds of Ardfert Cathedral
Ardfert Friary
Ardfert from the G.A.A. field