Sneem
Template:Short description Template:EngvarB Template:Use dmy dates Script error: No such module "Settlement short description".Script error: No such module "Infobox".Template:Template otherScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Script error: No such module "Check for conflicting parameters".Expression error: Unexpected < operator. Sneem (Template:Langx)[1] is a village situated on the Iveragh Peninsula (part of the Ring of Kerry), in County Kerry, in the southwest of Ireland. It lies on the estuary of the River Sneem which expands here to Kenmare Bay. The N70 road runs through the town, which is approximately Script error: No such module "convert". west of Kenmare. While the 2022 census recorded a population of 386 people,[2] Sneem is located in a tourist area and the population increases during the summer months.[3]
Name
The Irish village name Script error: No such module "Lang". means "the knot" in English. Several explanations of the name have been offered:
- One is that a knot-like swirling is said to take place where the River Sneem meets the currents of Kenmare Bay in the estuary, just below the village.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".
- Another notes that Sneem village comprises two squares, North and South. A bridge in the middle of the village, viewed from overhead, acts as a knot between the two squares.[4]
- A less common explanation is that Sneem is the knot in the scenic Ring of Kerry.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".
The English name is first recorded in Charles Smith's The Antient and Present State of the county of Kerry (1750), while the spellings Script error: No such module "Lang". and Script error: No such module "Lang". appear in poems of the early 19th century by Tomás Rua Ó Súilleabháin.[5][6]
History
A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, published by Samuel Lewis in 1837, states that at the time, Sneem consisted of a harbour, a collection of houses, a church, a chapel and a "constabulary police force".[7]
Former French president Charles de Gaulle visited Sneem in May 1969, and a monument to him now stands in the village's North Square.[8]
A book, Sneem, The Knot in the Ring, recounts the area's history.[9] In 2000, a time capsule was buried in the centre of the town, to be opened in 2100.[10]
Politics
The village is in the South and West Kerry electoral area of Kerry County Council, and the Dáil Éireann constituency of Kerry.
Historic buildings and places
Derryquin castle
Derryquin Castle was an 18th-century stone-built country house, now demolished, in the Parknasilla estate close to Sneem. Designed by local architect James Franklin Fuller, the house comprised a three-storey main block with a four-storey octagonal tower rising through the centre and a two-storey, partly curved wing. The building was equipped with battlements and machicolations.[11]
Rossdohan house
Rossdohan House on Rossdohan Island was built c.1875-1881 by architect John Pollard Seddon for Dr. Samuel Thomas Heard, a surgeon who had recently retired from his role in British Raj-era India and bought the island. It was burned down in 1922 and a new house built on the site in 1946 by architect Michael John Scott in the Dutch Cape style (resembling Groot Constantia in Cape Town). This second house was burnt down in 1955 and has remained a ruin since. Rossdohan Island and the remaining estate have a mixture of tree ferns and exotic plants still extant, many dating from the late 1800s.[12][13][14]
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People
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- Steve Casey, and his brothers Tom and Jim, were Irish athletes of the 1930s who competed in single scull rowing at the Charles River in Boston.[15] As well as being a rower, Steve Casey was both NWA and AWA heavyweight wrestling champion of the world five times between 1938 and 1947. There is a statue commemorating him in the village.
- John Egan, Kerry Gaelic footballer, played for Sneem GAA. He won six All-Ireland medals, four of which were consecutive, and five GAA All Stars Awards.[16] Several years after his death in 2012, a life-size bronze statue of Egan was erected in Sneem's South Square.[17]
- Ronan Hussey, also a Sneem Gaelic footballer, has been a member of the Kerry senior football panel.[18]
- William Melville, the first head of the British Secret Service, was born at nearby Direenaclaurig Cross.
- Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh, former President of Ireland, lived nearby before his death; his state funeral was held in Sneem in March 1978
See also
References
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External links
- Sneem.com – village web portal
- Sneem.ie – community website
- The Tidy Towns of Ireland "Celebrating 50 years"
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