Ventry (), officially ''Ceann Trá'', is a

Gaeltacht A ( , , ) is a district of Ireland, either individually or collectively, where the Irish government recognises that the Irish language is the predominant vernacular, or language of the home. The districts were first officially recognised ...

village in

County Kerry County Kerry () is a Counties of Ireland, county on the southwest coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is bordered by two other countie ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, on the

Dingle Peninsula The Dingle Peninsula (; anglicised as Corkaguiny or Corcaguiny, 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 of m ...

, 7 kilometres west of

Dingle Dingle ( or ''Daingean Uí Chúis'', meaning "fort of Ó Cúis") is a town in County Kerry in the south-west of Ireland. The only town on the Dingle Peninsula (known in Irish as ''Corca Dhuibhne''), it sits on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coa ...

. Due to its long sandy beach, Ventry is a

tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as being limited to holiday activity on ...

destination.

History

Six kilometres west of Ventry are the ruins of

Dunbeg Dunbeg (), formerly known as Dunstaffnage ( or ''Dùn Staidhinis''), is a village about outside of Oban, Scotland. It has a population of just under 1,000. It is home to the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS), one of the primary m ...

(''An Dún Beag''), an Iron Age

promontory fort A promontory fort is a fortification, 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 Rampart (fortification), ramparts needed. The oldest kno ...

on the edge of a steep cliff. Near Dunbeg is Kilvickadownig, home to other archeological ruins, including examples of the

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. Occurrences The ancient Bantu used this type of house, which was made with mud, poles, and c ...

and the grave of Caol or Cháil Mic Crimthainn, the last to die in the Battle of Ventry from the

Fenian Cycle The Fenian Cycle (), Fianna Cycle or Finn Cycle () is a body of early Irish literature focusing on the exploits of the mythical hero Fionn mac Cumhaill, Finn or Fionn mac Cumhaill and his Kóryos, warrior band the Fianna. Sometimes called the ...

Irish mythology Irish mythology is the body of myths indigenous to the island of Ireland. It was originally Oral tradition, passed down orally in the Prehistoric Ireland, prehistoric era. In the History of Ireland (795–1169), early medieval era, myths were ...

. Also within Ventry parish is

Rahinnane Castle Rahinnane Castle is a tower house and National Monument located in County Kerry, Ireland. Location Rahinnane Castle is located northwest of Ventry, in the west of the Dingle Peninsula. History The ringfort on the site was built in the 7th o ...

, which was the residence of the

Knight of Kerry Knight of Kerry (), also called The Green Knight, is one of three Hiberno-Norman Knight#Ireland, hereditary knighthoods, all of which existed in Ireland since feudal times. The other two were White Knight (Fitzgibbon family), The White Knight ( ...

. The Knight of Kerry lived there until

Cromwellian conquest of Ireland The Cromwellian conquest of Ireland (1649–1653) was the re-conquest of Ireland by the Commonwealth of England, initially led by Oliver Cromwell. It forms part of the 1641 to 1652 Irish Confederate Wars, and wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three ...

. The castle was built on the site of an old

ringfort Ringforts or ring forts are small circular fortification, fortified settlements built during the Bronze Age, Iron Age and early Middle Ages up to about the year 1000 AD. They are found in Northern Europe, especially in Ireland. There are ...

. 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 A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...

, although there never was one. Rahinnane Castle retains some of its original features, including a set of narrow stone stairs which connect the first and second floors.

Transport

The village is connected to Dingle via the R559 road which runs from Dingle through various villages on Slea Head. As at 2024 there are daily bus services to Dingle.

Notable people

* Sport shooter Dennis Fenton was born in the village *

Canon James Goodman Canon James Goodman (22 September 1828 – 18 January 1896) was a Church of Ireland clergyman, a piper and a collector of Irish music and songs. Life As a cleric Goodman was born in Ballyameen, Dingle, County Kerry and was raised in Ventry, ...

, the music collector and Professor of Irish at Trinity College, Dublin, was raised in Ventry. * Ventry was home to

Páidí Ó Sé Páidí Ó Sé (; 16 May 1955 – 15 December 2012) was an Irish Gaelic football manager and player, whose league and championship career at senior level with the Kerry county team spanned fifteen seasons from 1974 to 1988. Ó Sé is widel ...

, the well-known Kerry

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

, who owned a pub across from the parish church until his death in 2012.

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-boat U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...

. The event was commemorated with a plaque in October 2009. Guests at the plaque unveiling included the then German Ambassador to Ireland, the mayor of the

Oinousses Oinousses (, alternative forms: ''Aignousa'' (Αιγνούσα) or ''Egnousa'' (Εγνούσα)) is a barren cluster of 1 larger and 8 smaller islands some off the north-east coast of the Greek island of Chios and west of Turkey. Administrative ...

Islands in the Aegean, as well as members of London's Greek shipping community. File:Ventry Harbour from Mount Eagle - geograph.org.uk - 2010909.jpg, Ventry Harbour seen from Mount Eagle File:Ventry Graveyard a.jpg, Ventury graveyard File:Ventry1.jpg, Ventry Beach

References

External links