Ard na Caithne (; meaning "height of the

arbutus ''Arbutus'' is a genus of 12 accepted speciesAct. Bot. Mex no.99 Pátzcuaro abr. 2012.''Arbutus bicolor''/ref> of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae, native to warm temperate regions of the Mediterranean, western Europe, the Canary Islan ...

/ strawberry tree"), sometimes known in English as Smerwick, is a bay and

townland A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic orig ...

County Kerry County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...

in Ireland. One of the principal bays of Corca Dhuibhne, it is located at the foot of an Triúr Deirfiúr and

Mount Brandon Mount Brandon or Brandon (), at , is one of the ten highest peaks in Ireland, being the 8th–highest peak in Ireland on the Arderin list, and the 9th–highest on the Vandeleur-Lynam list. Brandon is the highest Irish mountain outside the Ma ...

. Bounded by the villages of Baile an Fheirtéaraigh, Baile na nGall and Ard na Caithne itself, the area is what has been known as the ''Fíor-Ghaeltacht'', or "true

Gaeltacht ( , , ) are the districts of Ireland, individually or collectively, where the Irish government recognises that the Irish language is the predominant vernacular, or language of the home. The ''Gaeltacht'' districts were first officially reco ...

" (an area in which the

Irish language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...

is the official and principal language). Ard na Caithne1

Name

The area's official and common

name, ''Ard na Caithne'', means "height of the arbutus" or "height of the strawberry tree". ''Ard na Caithne'' (formerly anglicised as "Ardnaconnia") was also known in Irish as ''Iorras Tuaiscirt'' ("north peninsula") and ''Gall-Iorras'' ("peninsula of the strangers"). The area's former English language name, Smerwick, is believed to derive from the Norse (Viking) words ''smoer'' and ''wick'' meaning "butter harbour".

History

Early Christian history

The early Christian

Gallarus Oratory The Gallarus Oratory (, ''Gallarus'' being interpreted as either 'rocky headland' (''Gall-iorrus'') or 'house or shelter for foreigner(s)' (''Gall Aras'') is a chapel on the Dingle Peninsula, County Kerry, Ireland. It has been presented variou ...

and ''Mainistir Riaisc'' monastic site nearby are central archeological and tourist attractions.

Desmond rebellions

After the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

pronounced that Elizabeth was not Ireland's legitimate queen,

James FitzMaurice FitzGerald James fitz Maurice FitzGerald (died 1579), called "fitz Maurice", was captain-general of Desmond while Gerald FitzGerald, 14th Earl of Desmond, was detained in England by Queen Elizabeth after the Battle of Affane in 1565. He led the first ...

and others initiated what became known as the

Second Desmond Rebellion The Second Desmond Rebellion (1579–1583) was the more widespread and bloody of the two Desmond Rebellions in Ireland launched by the FitzGerald Dynasty of Desmond in Munster against English rule. The second rebellion began in July 1579 whe ...

. While Fitzgerald himself was killed in August 1579, in September 1580, a force of 600 Italian- and Spanish-origin mercenaries, combined with some Irish and English Catholics, landed with arms for several thousand men to support the rebellion. Commanded by Sebastiano di San Giuseppe, and carrying a banner bearing the coat of arms of FitzMaurice, the force occupied ''Dún an Óir'' ('Fort of the Gold') at ''Ard na Caithne''. ''Dún an Óir'' was an

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly ...

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 using the topography to reduce the ramparts needed. Although their dating is problematic, most seem to da ...

located near ''Ard na Caithne'' harbour. San Giuseppe's force was met by English and Irish Royal Army forces, precipitating the

Siege of Smerwick The siege of Smerwick took place at (known in English as Smerwick) in November 1580, during the Second Desmond Rebellion in Ireland. A force of between 400 and 700 Papal freelance soldiers, mostly of Spanish and Italian origin, landed at Smerw ...

. After a 3-day siege, San Giuseppe surrendered to forces under the command of

Arthur Grey, 14th Baron Grey de Wilton The Rt Hon. Arthur Grey, 14th Baron Grey de Wilton, KG (1536–1593), was a baron in the Peerage of England. Lord Grey de Wilton is now largely remembered for his memoir of his father, for participating in the last defence of Calais (1558), a ...

. Except for 20 or 30 officers, the fort's occupants were all executed immediately following their surrender. Charges for these killings were later brought against

Sir Walter Raleigh Sir Walter Raleigh (; – 29 October 1618) was an English statesman, soldier, writer and explorer. One of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era, he played a leading part in English colonisation of North America, suppressed rebelli ...

; he avoided conviction by pleading that he only followed orders from a superior officer.

Harbour

The harbour where

Fitzmaurice Fitzmaurice is a Hiberno-Norman, Cambro-Norman, Anglo-Norman surname. It is patronymic as the prefix '' Fitz-'' derives from the Latin'' filius'', meaning "son of". According to Irish genealogist Edward MacLysaght: Fitzmaurice is uncommon ...

's invasion force landed was also the landfall of the returning transatlantic expedition of

Sir Martin Frobisher Sir Martin Frobisher (; c. 1535 – 22 November 1594) was an English seaman and privateer who made three voyages to the New World looking for the North-west Passage. He probably sighted Resolution Island near Labrador in north-eastern Cana ...

in 1578.

Notable people

In the nearby ''Caisleán an Fheirtéaraigh'' lived the 17th-century

bard In Celtic cultures, a bard is a professional story teller, verse-maker, music composer, oral historian and genealogist, employed by a patron (such as a monarch or chieftain) to commemorate one or more of the patron's ancestors and to praise ...

and Irish clan chief Piaras Feiritéar. He was executed by a Cromwellian general at

Killarney Killarney ( ; ga, Cill Airne , meaning 'church of sloes') is a town in County Kerry, southwestern Ireland. The town is on the northeastern shore of Lough Leane, part of Killarney National Park, and is home to St Mary's Cathedral, Ross Cast ...

in 1653, for having led his clansmen in resistance against the

Cromwellian conquest of Ireland The Cromwellian conquest of Ireland or Cromwellian war in Ireland (1649–1653) was the re-conquest of Ireland by the forces of the English Parliament, led by Oliver Cromwell, during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Cromwell invaded Ireland w ...

. Feiritéar continues to be a

folk hero A folk hero or national hero is a type of hero – real, fictional or mythological – with their name, personality and deeds embedded in the popular consciousness of a people, mentioned frequently in folk songs, folk tales and other folklore; a ...

and his poetry remains popular as

oral literature Oral literature, orature or folk literature is a genre of literature that is spoken or sung as opposed to that which is written, though much oral literature has been transcribed. There is no standard definition, as anthropologists have used var ...

among the people of the

Dingle peninsula The Dingle Peninsula ( ga, Corca Dhuibhne; anglicised as Corkaguiny, the name of the corresponding barony) is the northernmost of the major peninsulas in County Kerry. It ends beyond the town of Dingle at Dunmore Head, the westernmost point ...

Gallery

File:An Triúr Deirféar1.JPG, View from An Triúr Deirféar File:Slí go Trá Béal Bán.JPG, Entrance to Béal Bán Strand, Ard na Caithne File:Dún an Óir10.JPG, Smerwick massacre memorial File:DúnanÓir30.JPG, Dún an Óir File:Caislean an Fheirtéaraigh1.JPG, Remains of Caisleán an Fheirtéaraigh, castle of the poet Piaras Feiritéar

References

External links

Entry for Smerwick Harbour
Irelandscape.com; archived 28 September 2007. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ard Na Caithne Bays of County Kerry Second Desmond Rebellion