Tralee to Kilkee on the Wild Atlantic Way

Coming into the town of Tralee – the administrative capital of County Kerry – my mind always goes back to the Rose of Tralee festival. Specifically to the early 1980s and heading down to Tralee for the craic, sleeping only when necessary and wherever possible. Funny how those memories can colour your impressions of a place!

Tralee is one of many places in this part of Kerry that was founded by the Normans in the 13th century – the Fitzgeralds, Earls of Desmond. But, we’ll come across them a little later. So, in the meantime a little clip from the Rose of Tralee festival, a festival Rose dancing up a storm to the sound of the Dropkick Murphys:

The census of 1901 shows the following surnames in quantity in the town of Tralee and the surrounding countryside:

Ahern, Barrett, Barry, Bowers, Breen, Broderick, Brosnan, Browne, Buckley, Burke, Cahill, Cantillon, Carey, Carmody, Cahill, Casey, Clifford, Coffey, Collins, Commane, Connell, Connor, Conway, Corcoran, Costelloe, Cournane, Cronin, Crowley, Curran, Curtin, Daly, Dee, Dennehy,  Devine, Dineen, Donoghue, Donovan, Dooley, Dowling, Doyle, Driscoll, Dunne, Egan, Enright, Falvey, Farmer, Finn, Fitzgerald, Fitzgibbon, Fitzmaurice, Flaherty, Flahive, Flavin, Fleming, Flynn, Foley, Gallivan, Galvin, Gleeson, Glover, Godfrey, Gorman, Grady, Griffin, Hanafin, Harrington, Harris, Hawley, Hayes, Healy, Heffernan, Hennessy,  Hilliard, Hoare, Hogan, Hogg, Horan, Houlihan, Huggard, Hurley, Johnston, Jones, Keane, Keefe, Kelliher, Kelly, Kennedy, Kerin, Laide, Landers, Lawlor, Leary, Leen, Lehane, Looney, Lynch, Lyons, Maher, Mahony, Mason, McCarthy, McKenna, McMahon, McDonnell, McElligot, McEnery, McGillicuddy, McQuinn, McSweeney, Moore, Moran, Moriarty, Moroney, Morris, Mulcahy, Mullins, Murphy, Neville, Nolan, O’Connor, O’Brien, O’Connell, O’Donnell, O’Donoghue, O’Keefe, O’Shea, O’Sullivan, O’Carroll, Power, Prendergast, Quinlan, Raymond, Regan, Reidy, Riordan, Roche, Ryan, Ryle, Savage, Scannell, Shea, Sheehan, Sheehy, Slattery, Stack, Sugrue, Sullivan, Sweeney, Switzer, Tangney, Teahan, Tuomey, Walsh, Whelan, Williams.

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We drove on from Tralee the nearby villages of Fenit and Ardfert. This is the territory associated with Saint Brendan the Navigator.

Brendan was born in Fenit in 484 AD  and was ordained a priest in 512 AD. He founded a number of monasteries including Clonfert in modern County Galway as well as monastic cells at Ardfert. He also built monastic cells at Shanakeel at the foot of Mount Brandon and it is from here that legend has it he set off on a famous seven-year voyage that was written about in The Voyage of St Brendan the Navigator. It is believed that he made his way across the Atlantic in a closed sailing currach to what is now Newfoundland.

This voyage has been retraced successfully by Tim Severin in the fascinating Brendan Voyage.

Moving along, we arrived in the nearby village of Ardfert – which actually translates from the Irish as “The hill of the miracles”.

Ardfert was an area settled by Saint Brendan – in a territory ruled by the O’Leen family – and a cathedral was subsequently built over the original monastic settlement. The Normans arrived in the shape of the Fitzgeralds/Fitzmaurices who ruled the area to the 1600s. There are many Norman surnames in the area today – in particular Fitzgerald, Fitzmaurice and Cantillon.

The countryside is fertile and quite flat as we head north towards the seaside towns of Ballyheigue and Ballybunnion.

Ballybunion is a seaside destination for Irish people from Limerick, Cork and Tralee – plenty going on for the teenagers!

Unfortunately, our teenager years are behind us – so we headed to our B and B for the night – just a little north of the town of Listowel.

We stayed right on the mouth of the Shannon estuary, in easy reach of the Tarbert ferry to County Clare the next morning. Here is the view from our Bed and Breakfast – a chief viewing point on the Wild Atlantic Way – the main castle of the North Kerry O’Connors at Carrigafoyle.

That night, the place to go was into the nearby town of Listowel. Famous for the many writers that it has produced, perhaps the best-known of all was the playwright John B. Keane.

This is the front of his actual pub – a quiet, old-fashioned place where John B. used to hold court (and get a lot of ideas through the conversations) when he was alive. It’s a great place to visit, but you do miss him when you call in these days.

Probably his most famous, and most powerful, play is “The Field” which was also made into a film starring Richard Harris. Harris was also from nearby Limerick, just a few miles up the road – small world!

Today, the town has a very refined look about it – you can see the prosperity that rolls in from the surrounding fertile countryside.

The census of 1901 shows the following surnames in quantity in the town of Listowel and the surrounding countryside:

Allen, Ashe, Bambury, Barrett, Barry, Behan, Broderick, Brosnan, Browne, Buckley, Burke, Cahill, Callaghan, Carmody, Carroll, Casey, Collins, Connor, Costelloe, Cronin, Curtin, Daly, Dee, Dillon, Dooling, Doyle, Enright, Evans, Faley, Fitzgerald, Fitzmaurice, Flaherty, Foley, Gallivan, Galvin, Gleasure, Godfrey, Granville, Greany, Griffin, Guerin, Halpin, Hannan, Harnett, Hayes, Healy, Hennessy, Houlihan, Jones, Joy, Keane, Kelliher, Kelly, Kennelly, Kenny, Kirby, Lacy, Larkin, Lawlor, Leahy, Loughnane, Lynch, Lyones, Mahony, Mangan, McAuliffe, McCarthy, McElligot, McMahon, Moloney, Molyneaux, Moore, Moran, Moriarty, Mulvihill, Murphy, Nolan, O’Connell, O’Connor, O’Sullivan, O’Carroll, O’Halloran, O’Leary, Power, Purcell, Quille, Quirk, Reidy, Relihan, Roche, Scanlon, Shanahan, Shea, Sheehy, Stack, Stokes, Sullivan, Twomey, Walsh, Whyte.

Around the Loop Head Peninsula to Kilkee.

The next morning we got up bright and early and headed for the ferry to Kilimer and across to County Clare. Lovely trip on a lovely morning across the mouth of the River Shannon. The river has featured in Irish mythology and history – named after “Sionann” who was one of the granddaughters of Lir (remember the “Children of Lir”?)

As soon as you drive off the ferry and head to the town of Kilrush – it feels very different to north Kerry. A lot more people about – and a lot more tourists (which is not all that much – this is Ireland after all!). Our destination was Kilrush and the towns and villages of the remote Loop Head Peninsula.

Stopping off in Kilrush for a cup of coffee, this memorial in the centre of town grabbed our attention. It was erected in 1903 by Irish nationalists – at a time when the area was still occupied by British troops. When they were leaving in the early 1920s, the memorial was shot up by these same troops as a parting gesture.

This is the part of the world dominated for centuries by the O’Briens of the Dal gCais tribe – as well as their cousins the McMahons and many more. In Carrigaholt, we came across this scenic ruin – once a local stronghold built by the ruling McMahons, taken over by the O’Briens and finally settled in by the Burtons.

As we head west further into the Loop Head Peninsula, the roads get narrower – more bicycles appear – and the sea starts to appear on both sides. We were heading to the lighthouse at the end of the peninsula, but we could see how this is an area to come back to and slow right down ……

All around the peninsula brought us in to the busy seaside village of Kilkee. It was a warm afternoon, and the promenade and steps were full of families and day-trippers from nearby Limerick City.

One of my own memories of this area is from the singer Christy Moore and his beautiful tune “The Cliffs of Dooneen” – he mentions the towns of Kilkee and Kilrush, two of the towns we visited today. Have a listen:

The census of 1901 shows the following surnames in quantity around the town of Kilrush and into the Loop Head Peninsula:

Barry, Behan, Blake, Bourke, Boyle, Breen, Brennan, Brew, Browne, Burke, Cahill, Carey, Carmody, Carrig, Carroll, Casey, Chambers, Clancy, Cleary, Clohessy, Coghlan, Connell, Connors, Considine, Conway, Cooney, Corbett, Corry, Costello, Counihan, Crotty, Crowley, Culligan, Cullinan, Curtin, Cusack, Daly, Deloughery, Devers, Dillon, Donohue, Downes, Egan, Enright, Finucane, Fitzpatrick, Foley, Galvin, Gorman, Griffin, Grogan, Halloran, Hanrahan, Haugh, Hennessy, Hickey, Honan, Keane, Keating, Kelleher, Kelly, Kiely, Lahiffe, Leahy, Lynch, Madigan, Mahony, Mangan, Manning, Martin, McGrath, McInerney, McMahon, McNamara, Meaney, Mescall, Moloney, Moran, Morrissy, Mulqueen, Murphy, Nash, Neenan, O’Dea, O’Brien, O’Connell, O’Donnell, O’Dwyer, O’Loughlin, Purtill, Quinlivan, Reidy, Ronan, Russell, Ryan, Scanlan, Scanlon, Shannon, Shaughnessy, Sullivan, Talty, Thompson, Wallace, Walsh, Williams.

That’s it for this leg of the journey. Join us on the next leg as we leave Kilkee – heading north along the County Clare and Galway coastline – until we end up in the mighty Galway City.

If you would like to see all of the legs of the Wild Atlantic Way that we have completed so far, click on “Join us on a Long, Slow Trip along Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way“.

In the meantime, Slán! Mike & Carina.