Ventry
Encyclopedia
Gaeltacht
is the Irish language word meaning an Irish-speaking region. In Ireland, the Gaeltacht, or an Ghaeltacht, refers individually to any, or collectively to all, of the districts where the government recognises that the Irish language is the predominant language, that is, the vernacular spoken at home...
village in County Kerry
County Kerry
Kerry means the "people of Ciar" which was the name of the pre-Gaelic tribe who lived in part of the present county. The legendary founder of the tribe was Ciar, son of Fergus mac Róich. In Old Irish "Ciar" meant black or dark brown, and the word continues in use in modern Irish as an adjective...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. Located on the Dingle Peninsula
Dingle Peninsula
The Dingle Peninsula is the northernmost of the major peninsulae in County Kerry. Its ends beyond the town of Dingle at Dunmore Head, the westernmost point of Ireland.-Name:...
, 7 kilometres west of Dingle
Dingle
Dingle is a town in County Kerry, Ireland. The only town on the Dingle Peninsula, it sits on the Atlantic coast, about 49 kilometres southwest of Tralee and 71 kilometres northwest of Killarney....
, the village of Ventry was once the main port of the peninsula. Due to its long sandy beach Ventry is now a popular tourist
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
destination.
Six kilometres west of Ventry are the ruins of Dunbeg (An Dún Beag), an Iron Age promontory fort
Promontory fort
A promontory fort is a defensive structure located above a steep cliff, often only connected to the mainland by a small neck of land, thus utilizing the topography to reduce the ramparts needed. Although their dating is problematic, most seem to date to the Iron Age...
on the edge of a steep cliff. Near Dunbeg is Kilvickadownig, home to other archeologial ruins, including examples of the beehive house
Beehive house
A beehive house is a building made from a circle of stones topped with a domed roof. The name comes from the similarity in shape to a straw beehive.The ancient Bantu used this type of house, which was made with mud, poles, and cow dung....
and the grave of Caol or Cháil Mic Crimthainn, the last to die in the Battle of Ventry from the well-known Fenian Cycle
Fenian Cycle
The Fenian Cycle , also referred to as the Ossianic Cycle after its narrator Oisín, is a body of prose and verse centering on the exploits of the mythical hero Fionn mac Cumhaill and his warriors the Fianna. It is one of the four major cycles of Irish mythology along with the Mythological Cycle,...
myths.
A site of interest in Ventry parish is Rahinnane Castle, which was the residence of the Knight of Kerry
Knight of Kerry
Knight of Kerry, also called the Green Knight, is one of three Anglo-Irish hereditary knighthoods, all of which existed in Ireland since feudal times. The others are the White Knight and the Knight of Glin...
. The Knight of Kerry lived there until Cromwellian times
Cromwellian conquest of Ireland
The Cromwellian conquest of Ireland refers to the conquest of Ireland by the forces of the English Parliament, led by Oliver Cromwell during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Cromwell landed in Ireland with his New Model Army on behalf of England's Rump Parliament in 1649...
. The castle was built on the site of an old ringfort
Ringfort
Ringforts are circular fortified settlements that were mostly built during the Iron Age , although some were built as late as the Early Middle Ages . They are found in Northern Europe, especially in Ireland...
. The ringfort was built up and a second added with walls of six metres (20 feet), giving the appearance that there may have been a moat
Moat
A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that surrounds a castle, other building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive water defences, including natural or artificial lakes, dams and sluices...
, although there never was one. Rahinnane Castle still has its very tiny, narrow, stone stairs, from the first to second floors, which can be carefully climbed.
Ventry is home to Páidí Ó Sé
Páidí Ó Sé
Páidí Ó Sé is a retired Irish Gaelic football manager and former player. He played football with his local club An Ghaeltacht and was a member of the Kerry senior inter-county team from 1975 until 1987...
, the footballer
Gaelic football
Gaelic football , commonly referred to as "football" or "Gaelic", or "Gah" is a form of football played mainly in Ireland...
, who owns a pub across from the parish church. Canon James Goodman
Canon James Goodman
Canon James Goodman was a collector of Irish music. Raised in Ventry, County Kerry, a Gaeltacht area, he was a native Irish language speaker.-As a cleric:Goodman studied at Trinity College, Dublin, having gained a scholarship in 1847...
, the music collector, was raised in Ventry.
Ventry Bay
The bay or harbour is a suitable anchorage for sailing and fishing boats. On 4 October 1939, entered Ventry Bay and landed 28 Greek sailors of the MV Diamantis. Their ship had been torpedoed by a U-boatU-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
. The event was commemorated with a plaque in October 2009. Guests included the German Ambassador Dr. Busso von Alvensleben and the Mayor of the Oinousses
Oinousses
Oinousses , alternative forms: Aignoussa or Egnoussa is a barren cluster of 1 larger and 8 smaller islands some 2 km off the north-east coast of the Greek island of Chios and 8 km west of Turkey. Administratively the islands form a municipality within the Chios peripheral unit, which is...
Islands in the Aegean, Evangelos Elias Angelakos who unveiled the memorial stonehttp://www.kerryman.ie/local-notes/west-kerry-local-recalls-u35-landing-perished-sailors-in-ventry-1919692.html?start=2 and members of London's Greek shipping community.
See also
- List of towns and villages in Ireland