Knightstown, County Kerry
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Knightstown (, also ), alternatively called Knight's Town, is a village and the largest
settlement Settlement may refer to: *Human settlement, a community where people live *Settlement (structural), downward movement of a structure's foundation *Settlement (finance), where securities are delivered against payment of money *Settlement (litigatio ...
on
Valentia Island Valentia Island () is one of Republic of Ireland, Ireland's most westerly points. It lies in Dingle Bay off the Iveragh Peninsula in the southwest of County Kerry. It is linked to the mainland by the Maurice O'Neill Memorial Bridge at Portmagee ...
,
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 ...
, in
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 ...
. It lies within the
townland A townland (; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a traditional small land division used in Ireland and in the Western Isles of Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of medieval Gaelic origin, predating the Norman invasion, and mo ...
of Farranreagh, at the eastern tip of the island. As of the CSO census of 2022, Knightstown had a population of 244.


History

In 1830 Maurice FitzGerald, the 18th
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 ( ...
, commissioned Scottish engineer
Alexander Nimmo Alexander Nimmo FRSE MRIA MICE HFGS (1783 – January 20, 1832) was a Scottish civil engineer and geologist active in early 19th-century Ireland. Early life Nimmo was born in Cupar, Fife in 1783, the son of a watchmaker, and grew up in Kirk ...
to draw up plans for a new village. During the 1840s, development began on what was initially known as the New Town of Valentia.


Locality

The local
RNLI The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is the largest of the lifeboat services operating around the coasts of the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, as well as on some inland waterways. Founded in 1824 ...
lifeboat station moved to Knightstown in 1869 from Reenard Point and has since been known as the Valentia Lifeboat Station. There is a selection of local coffee shops and bars in the town, as well as
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
and
Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...
churches. Knightstown is also the location of the car ferry connection between Valentia Island and Reenard Point on the mainland. The area served as a base of operations for the laying of the first successful
Transatlantic telegraph cable Transatlantic telegraph cables were undersea cables running under the Atlantic Ocean for telegraph communications. Telegraphy is a largely obsolete form of communication, and the cables have long since been decommissioned, but telephone and dat ...
to Heart's Content, completed in 1866. A cable station operated until it was closed in 1966. The history of the transatlantic cable and artifacts from it can be seen at the local history museum located in Knightstown. Knightstown participates in the annual "Tidy Towns" competition where it is regularly recognized for the quality and cleanliness of its environment.Knightstown Tidy Towns Report 2018
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See also

* R565 road (Ireland) which runs through Knightstown to the ferry * List of towns and villages in Ireland *
List of RNLI stations Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) stations are the bases for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, RNLI's fleet of search and rescue Lifeboat (rescue), lifeboats that cover the coastal waters around the entire British Isles, as we ...


References

{{County Kerry Towns and villages in County Kerry Planned communities in the Republic of Ireland Valentia Island