Information Cahersiveen Ireland
The story goes that architectural plans for the building that were supposed to be sent to India where the structure was to be built were misplaced and ended up in Ireland instead. The story may be untrue and the result of a joke made by locals that got carried away. Coming into Cahersiveen via the N70 along the northern coast of the hilly Iveragh Peninsula – which is very scenic – you will pass the ruins of the birthplace of Daniel O’Connell. The Liberator, O’Connell agitated in the 1820s and 1830s for Catholic emancipation, a change in the legislation of the United Kingdom to allow Catholics to stand for parliament at Westminster. He was a civil rights activist who also campaigned for an end to other discriminatory laws and is still revered in Ireland today. The town has the only church in Ireland that is named after a lay person – O’Connell himself. After crossing the bridge following a visit to O’Connell’s birthplace, you can also visit the Barracks Heritage Centre – the old police barracks mentioned above, now converted into a museum – which features displays of local interest. Following that, you can visit the nearby stone forts to view how people may have lived thousands of years before O’Connell. Cahergall Fort is a fort made of stone with 10 ft thick walls. Leacanabuaile Fort is a carefully restored stone ring fort that was occupied in the sixth to eighth centuries, but was very probably a Bronze Age settlement and may be as old as four thousand years. It is a stone built enclosure with a square building as its centrepiece and three beehive huts surrounding it. At eighty feet across, the whole structure is impressive and well worth a look.
Attractions Cahersiveen Ireland
Ardfert Cathedral - Ardfert
A monastery was founded here by St. Brendan 'The Navigator' in the 6th century. There are three medieval churches, an ogham stone and a number of early Christian and medieval grave slabs on the site today. The earliest building is the cathedral which dates from the 12th - 17th centuries. It has a fine Romanesque west doorway, a magnificent 13th century east window and a spectacular row of nine lancets in the south wall. Two effigies of ecclesiastical figures of late 13th - early 14th century date are mounted on either side of the east window.
Carrigafoyle Castle - Ballylongford
Located 2 miles North of Ballylongford in the channel between the mainland and Carrig Island. Carrigafoyle has had a stormy history and, although wrecked by a series of bloody sieges, remains a remarkable castle. Cleverly located between the high- and low-water marks on the shore of the Shannon Estuary, it comprises a large tower built towards the end of the fifteenth century by the O'Connors of Kerry. The tower has five storeys rising to a height of 86 feet and is beautifully constructed of specially selected small stones laid in neat courses.
Coolwood Wildlife Sanctuary and Zoo - Coolcaslagh
Located at Coolcaslagh, about two miles from Killarney town. Situated on 50 acres, it is an ideal family venue with scenic walks, coffee shop, children's playground and the 3 acre children's zoo with a variety of exotic species
Crag Cave - Castleisland
Located at Castleisland, Crag cave is a colourful wonderland of stalactites and stalactmites. Discovered in 1983 and thought to be over a million years old, it is a natural all weather attraction. Crag Cave is an ancient fossil cave system, older than mankind itself, within which can be seen the natural forces that created the complex and beautiful passages.
Derrynane House, National Historic Park - Caherdaniel
Derrynane House is the ancestral home of Daniel O'Connell, lawyer, politician and statesman. Situated on 120 hectares of parklands on the scenic Kerry coast, the House displays many relics of O'Connell's life and career. Access for visitors with disabilities to ground floor
