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Abbeydorney

Coordinates: 52°21′00″N 9°41′00″W / 52.35°N 9.6833°W / 52.35; -9.6833
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Abbeydorney
Mainistir Ó dTorna
Village
Kyrie Eleison Abbey
Kyrie Eleison Abbey
Abbeydorney is located in Ireland
Abbeydorney
Abbeydorney
Location in Ireland
Coordinates: 52°21′00″N 9°41′00″W / 52.35°N 9.6833°W / 52.35; -9.6833
CountryIreland
ProvinceMunster
CountyCounty Kerry
Elevation
72 m (236 ft)
Population
 (2016)[1]
418
Time zoneUTC+0 (WET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-1 (IST (WEST))
Irish Grid ReferenceQ853233

Abbeydorney (Irish: Mainistir Ó dTorna, meaning 'monastery of the clan of Torna')[2] is a village in County Kerry, Ireland. Located 9 kilometres (6 mi) north of the county town of Tralee, the village had a population of 418 as of the 2016 census of Ireland.[1] Abbeydorney falls within the civil parish of O'Dorney.[3]

History until 1900

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Bivallate and Multivallate ringforts in North Kerry and nearby abbeydorney show that the area has been settled since the Bronze Age.[4]

Abbey

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Main article: Abbeydorney Abbey

The name of the village derives from the translation of the Irish Mainistir Ó dTorna – in English O'Dorney Abbey – which was the Cistercian Order Abbeydorney Abbey, established in 1154 and located north of the village. The abbey is often called Kyrie Eleison (which is Greek for Lord, have mercy). It was suppressed in 1537 during the reign of King Henry VIII of England.

Village

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The village that developed around the abbey is of an agrarian nature and the institutions that have developed reflect this. In 1885, Abbeydorney GAA club was established, and in 1895 Abbeydorney Co-operative Dairy Society was formed. A courthouse for petty sessions was held fortnightly in Abbeydorney. The courthouse closed in 1919.[5]

History from 1900

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People from the village were involved in the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War. Many also joined the Irish Volunteers.

War of Independence

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Abbeydorney RIC Barracks, demolished in 1981.

Abbeydorney was home to RIC barracks, which changed location at-least twice since the force was set up in the village.[6]

On October 12, 1920, lorries of armed RIC men evacuated, robbed and torched the Abbeydorney Co-Operative Creamery. The manager of the creamery, Tim O'Donovan received a blow to the back of the head by a constable's rifle when he refused to give up the key to his safe.[7]

On October 18, 1920 O'Donovan's house and that of his engine man, Patrick Tuomey was set alight by RIC constables in retalliation.[7]

On November 25th, 1920 the burning of the creamery was brought up in the House of Commons, where Chief Secretary, Sir Hamar Greenwood said that, according to a report, the creamery was burned on October 12th but they did not know who had commited the destruction.[7]

On October 31st, 1920 an RIC constable was shot dead in the village and another was seriously injured. The next day, people leaving mass were held up and searched. Most of the younger men had fled the village out of fear of being caught. That night, RIC Constables left the barracks with barrels of petrol. All roads to the village had been cordoned off. The houses of several people in the village were burned:[7]

  • Eugene Moriarty, blacksmith[8]
  • Mrs Peggy Joe Lovett, publican
  • John Lynn, building contractor
  • Mike Whelan, shopkeeper
  • Willie O'Rahilly, insurance agent
  • Mrs. Griffin, music teacher (pleaded with raiders to allow her to preserve her furniture)
  • Jeremiah O'Donovan, carpenter
  • Mrs. Kearney had a hayshed on her farm burned down.

Many of these houses were rebuilt after the burning with financial aid from the American Committee for Relief in Ireland which was distributed by the Irish White Cross.[8]

Amenities

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As of December 2023, Abbeydorney is home to a School, A Community Centre, two restaurants, a gym, a GAA Complex that also contains a pub and a play-park. The village is also home to a doctor's practice and a physiotherapy clinic.

St. Bernard's Church, Abbeydorney

Church

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Main article: St. Bernard's Church Abbeydorney

St. Bernard's Church, a modern ecclesiastical catholic church lies on the Bridge Road, next to the River Brick. It is built on the site of a former church which was demolished in 1966.[9]

Transport

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Abbeydorney railway station serving the village opened on 20 December 1880 on the line from Tralee to Limerick via Listowel. Passenger services were withdrawn on 4 February 1963, although the route through Abbeydorney continued to be used by freight trains for a while before the line to Listowel was finally closed altogether in 1977 and then to Tralee 1978. The station closed on 6 February 1978.[10]

Sport

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The local Abbeydorney hurling team have won five County Championships, the last in 2024,[11] and in more recent times their minor teams have won the minor county championship in 1999 and again in 2008. Abbeydorney GAA is also one of the oldest teams in Kerry. It was founded in 1885[12]

The Abbeydorney Ladies Football Club was the feeding ground for the great Kerry Ladies teams of the 1980s and 1990s.[13] In more recent years they secured back-to-back All-Irelands. They won the Junior All-Ireland Club title in 2004 and followed that a year later in 2005 by winning the All-Ireland Intermediate Club title.[14]

Common surnames

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According to Irish census of 1901 and 1911, common names in the area at the time included: Sullivan, Connor, Stack, Walsh, Shanahan, Buckley, Fitzgerald, Lawlor, Dowling, Glavin, McCarthy, Slattery, Brosnan, Hayes, Lynch, Moriarty, O'Connor, O'Leary, Lovett, Mahony, Maunsell, Murphy, Brennan, Cronin, Nolan, Sheehan, and Sheehy.[citation needed]

Notable people

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  • Amelia Wilmot, member of Cumann na mBan and spy during the Irish War of Independence.[15]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Census 2016 Sapmap Area: Settlements Abbeydorney". census.cso.ie. Archived from the original on 11 February 2018. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  2. ^ "Mainistir Ó dTorna/Abbeydorney". Placenames Database of Ireland (logainm.ie). Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  3. ^ "Mainistir Ó dTorna/O'Dorney". Placenames Database of Ireland (logainm.ie). Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  4. ^ "The Archaeology of Kerry - An Overview" (PDF).
  5. ^ "Abbeydorney Courthouse".
  6. ^ Mc, Peter (30 October 2013). "RIC Barracks in County Kerry".
  7. ^ a b c d Shanahan, Tom (6 October 2024). "THE BURNING OF O'DORNEY".
  8. ^ a b Moriarty, Eugene (24 January 1922). "I am a Blacksmith and live by my trade only" (PDF).
  9. ^ Gilleece, Emma (7 May 2022). "100 Buildings: St. Bernard's church - Kerry's modernist miracle". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  10. ^ "Abbeydorney station" (PDF). Railscot – Irish Railways. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 September 2007. Retrieved 7 September 2007.
  11. ^ "Abbeydorney end 50 year wait for Neilus Flynn - Kerry GAA". www.kerrygaa.ie. 5 August 2024. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  12. ^ "Abbeydorney GAA - Source". RouteYou. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  13. ^ "Kerry". Ladies Gaelic Football. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  14. ^ homepage.eircom.net http://homepage.eircom.net/~abbeydorney/NEWS%202005/AugustSeptemberOctoberNews2005.html. Retrieved 4 October 2024. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  15. ^ McTeirnan, Anthea. "Women at war: the jobs they did". The Irish Times.
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