Knightstown, County Kerry
Template:Short description Script error: No such module "Unsubst". Template:Use Hiberno-English Script error: No such module "Settlement short description".Script error: No such module "Infobox".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Script error: No such module "Check for conflicting parameters".Expression error: Unexpected < operator Knightstown (Template:Langx, also Script error: No such module "Lang".),[1] alternatively called Knight's Town, is a village and the largest settlement on Valentia Island, County Kerry, in Ireland. It lies within the townland of Farranreagh, at the eastern tip of the island. As of the CSO census of 2022, Knightstown had a population of 244.[2]
History
In 1830 Maurice FitzGerald, the 18th Knight of Kerry, commissioned Scottish engineer Alexander Nimmo to draw up plans for a new village. During the 1840s, development began on what was initially known as the New Town of Valentia.[3]
Locality
The local RNLI lifeboat station moved to Knightstown in 1869 from Reenard Point and has since been known as the Valentia Lifeboat Station.[4] There is a selection of local coffee shops and bars in the town, as well as Roman Catholic and Church of Ireland 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 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.[5]
Knightstown participates in the annual "Tidy Towns" competition where it is regularly recognized for the quality and cleanliness of its environment.[6]
See also
- R565 road (Ireland) which runs through Knightstown to the ferry
- List of towns and villages in Ireland
- List of RNLI stations
References
<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />
- ↑ Placenames Database of Ireland
- ↑ Cite error: Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ RNLI Lifeboat Station History Script error: No such module "webarchive".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Knightstown Tidy Towns Report 2018
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".