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Blennerville (Irish : Cathair Uí Mhóráin, meaning "the seat/home of the Morans") is a small village near Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland. It is approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) west of the town centre on the N86 road to Dingle, where the River Lee enters Tralee Bay. The village was formerly Tralee's port, and is connected to the town centre by the Tralee Ship Canal. [1] Part of Blennerville electoral division falls within the area of Tralee Town Council, and at the 2011 census had a population of 141. The remaining portion, outside the urban boundaries, had a 2011 population of 556. [2]
Blennerville was originally called Cathair Uí Mhóráin [3] (anglicised as Cahermoraun or Cahirmoreaun), [4] and it has been speculated that it was the ancient site of the Tramore ford, the only escape route afforded to the 15th Earl of Desmond from Tralee towards the south, before his capture and execution in 1583. [4]
Whether the old Tramore ford was at the spot where the bridge has been erected, or on the firmer sands further down towards Tralee Spa, is not certain, but the ancient name of Blennerville, (before Sir Rowland Blennerhassett, 1st Baronet made it his residence and elevated it into a village after his name,) being Cahirmoreauni.e. the cahir on the great river, renders it probable that the passage was there, and that a ferry house or some such place was the nucleus round which the hamlet originally grew.
— A. B. Rowan, The Last Geraldyn Chief of Tralee Castle [4]
A bridge was built at the site in 1751, and in 1783 Sir Rowland Blennerhassett renamed it Blennerville after his family. Blennerville Windmill, Ireland's only commercially operating windmill, was built in 1800. The port at Blennerville was used through most of the 19th century as a gateway from Kerry to North America by emigrants wishing to cross the Atlantic Ocean. The Jeanie Johnston was the most famous of these ships that transported emigrants, and throughout its service no passenger ever died. By 1846, however, the Tralee Ship Canal was opened, replacing Blennerville as Tralee's port and the village went into decline with the windmill falling into ruins and closing by the mid-19th century.
In 1891 the Tralee and Dingle Light Railway opened connecting Tralee with Dingle along one of Europe's most western railway lines at the time. A station operated at Blennerville until the line closed in 1953. Blennerville National School was built in 1932, and according to its website has an enrolment of 168 students. [5]
In 1981 Blennerville Windmill was purchased by Tralee Urban District Council; restoration work began in June 1984 before the windmill was opened to the public by the Taoiseach Charles Haughey in 1990. It is now impressively restored and open to the public with a visitor centre comprising a craft centre, exhibition gallery, audio-visual presentation and restaurant.[ citation needed ]
A restoration project of the Tralee and Dingle Light Railway was undertaken in 1993 with a short 3-kilometre (1.9 mi) replica of the original line opened between the Aquadome in Tralee to the restored station at Blennerville. As of 2014 the railway is no longer in operation. Blennerville Bridge was strengthened and enlarged in 1996. [6]
In the late 1980s an idea was conceived of building a replica of the Jeanie Johnston ship that sailed from Blennerville to North America during the 19th century. It did not become a reality until November 1993 when a feasibility study was completed, and in May 1995 The Jeanie Johnston (Ireland) Company Ltd. was incorporated. The Jeanie Johnston was constructed in a shipyard located only metres from where she sailed from Blennerville's original port. It was originally planned to launch the ship from her shipyard in Blennerville, but a 19th-century shipwreck was discovered by marine archaeologists while a channel was being dredged. To preserve the find, on 19 April 2000 the hull of the Jeanie Johnston was hauled to the shore and loaded onto a shallow-draft barge. There she was fitted with masts and sails, and on 4 May was transported to Fenit, a short distance away. On 6 May the barge was submerged and the Jeanie Johnston took to the water for the first time. The next day she was officially christened by President of Ireland Mary McAleese. Today the Jeanie Johnston is owned by the Dublin Docklands Development Authority and is located in Dublin. [7]
After a 20-year battle Blennerville finally got a new school, the old building been demolished after 84 years. [8] [9]
Blennerville has a GAA club called St Patrick's, Blennerville. The club was founded in 1929. Emigration took its toll on the team and it ceased to operate on a competitive level. The team dissolved in 1957, but reformed in 1963. [10]
County Kerry is a county on the southwest coast of Ireland, within the province of Munster and the Southern Region. It is bordered by two other counties; Limerick to the east, and Cork to the south and east. It is separated from Clare to the north by the Shannon Estuary. With an area of 4,807 square kilometres (1,856 sq mi) and a population of 156,458 as of 2022, it is the 5th largest of Ireland's 32 counties by land area, and the 15th most populous. The governing local authority is Kerry County Council.
Tralee is the county town of County Kerry in the south-west of Ireland. The town is on the northern side of the neck of the Dingle Peninsula, and is the largest town in County Kerry. The town's population was 26,079 as of the 2022 census, making it the 15th largest urban settlement in Ireland. Tralee is known for the Rose of Tralee International Festival, which has been held annually in August since 1959.
Dingle is a town in County Kerry, Ireland. The only town on the Dingle Peninsula, it sits on the Atlantic coast, about 50 kilometres (30 mi) southwest of Tralee and 71 kilometres (40 mi) northwest of Killarney. Principal industries in the town are tourism, fishing and agriculture: Dingle Mart serves the surrounding countryside.
Ardfert 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. The population of the village was 749 at the 2016 census.
Fenit is a small village in County Kerry, Ireland, located on north side of Tralee Bay about 10 km (6 mi) west of Tralee town, just south of the Shannon Estuary. It is also a civil parish. The bay is enclosed from the Atlantic by the Maharee spit which extends northwards from the Dingle peninsula. Fenit harbour is a mixed function sea port, where fishing, freight import and export, and a 136 berth marina are the main forms of business. As of the 2022 CSO census of Ireland, Fenit had a population of 619 people.
The Blennerville Windmill is a 21.30 m high, stone, reefing stage, windmill in Blennerville, County Kerry, Ireland. The mill has five floors, ground floor, intermediate floor, grinding floor, stone floor and cap floor.
Lios Póil is a Gaeltacht village in County Kerry, Ireland. It is on the Dingle Peninsula, 8 km east of the town of Dingle and 40 km west of Tralee on the N86 National Secondary Route.
Castlegregory is a village in County Kerry, Ireland. It is situated on the north side of the Dingle Peninsula, halfway between Tralee and Dingle. As of the 2022 census, Castlegregory had a population of 370.
The Tralee and Dingle Light Railway and Tramway was a 32 mi (51 km), 3 ft narrow gauge railway running between Tralee and Dingle, with a 6.2 mi (10.0 km) branch from Castlegregory Junction to Castlegregory, in County Kerry on the west coast of Ireland. It operated between 1891 and 1953; the Castlegregory branch closed shortly prior to the outbreak of the Second World War. It was one of the most westerly railway lines in Europe, but the terminus of the Valentia Harbour branch at 10.277785° was further west.
Jeanie Johnston is a replica of a three-masted barque that was originally built in Quebec, Canada, in 1847 by the Scottish-born shipbuilder John Munn. The replica Jeanie Johnston performs a number of functions: it is an ocean-going sail training vessel at sea, and in port, it converts into a living history museum on 19th century emigration and, in the evenings, is used as a corporate event venue.
Tralee Bay is located in on the west coast of County Kerry, Ireland. It is situated between Kerry Head on the north side and the Maharees on the west and extends eastwards as far as the bridge at Blennerville. Several small rivers feed into the bay through the town of Tralee. Villages around the bay include; Ballyheigue, Fenit, Kilfinora, Spa, Blennerville, Camp and Castlegregory.
00n3 is the description given to modelling 3 ft narrow gauge railways in 4 mm scale with 12 mm gauge track. 3 ft prototypes were common in Ireland and the Isle of Man, but the scale is not generally used outside the British Isles. 12 mm gauge track is the same as that used in TT scale and HOm, so some components used for those scales can be used.
The Dingle Way is a long-distance trail around the Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry, Ireland. It is a 162-kilometre (101-mile) long circular route that begins and ends in Tralee and is typically completed in eight days. It is designated as a National Waymarked Trail by the National Trails Office of the Irish Sports Council and is managed by the Dingle Way Committee and Kerry County Council.
The North Kerry Way is a long-distance trail in County Kerry, Ireland. It is 45 kilometres long and begins in Tralee and ends in Ballyheigue. It is typically completed in two days. It is designated as a National Waymarked Trail by the National Trails Office of the Irish Sports Council and is managed by North Kerry Walks Limited.
Camp is a village near the Slieve Mish Mountains in County Kerry, Ireland, on the Dingle Peninsula. It is close to the Dingle Way and is a destination for tourists.
The Tralee Ship Canal is a canal built for freight and passenger transportation from Tralee Bay to the town of Tralee in County Kerry, Ireland. The canal fell into disuse in the mid-20th century but has since been restored.
Colonel Sir Rowland Blennerhassett, 1st Baronet was an Anglo-Irish lawyer and baronet.
Sir Barry Denny, 1st Baronet was an Anglo-Irish politician. The Denny family effectively owned the town of Tralee.
The Blennerhassett family is an English and Anglo-Irish noble family which has been involved in the politics of the Britain and Ireland since the fourteenth century. The male line of the family is extinct in Britain.
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