Tralee
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Template:Ie citytown infoboxTralee (Irish: Trá Lí) is the county town of County Kerry in Ireland. It is situated in the southwest corner of Ireland. The name Tralee comes from the Irish Trá Lí, or Trá Laoi, which means "strand of the Lee" (river), although some believe it comes from the Irish Trá Liath meaning "grey strand". The town is situated at the neck of the Dingle Peninsula.
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History
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The town was founded in the 13th century by Anglo-Normans and was a stronghold of the Earls of Desmond. A medieval castle and Domincan Friary were located in the town. The mediaeval town was burnt in 1580 in retribution for a revolt against Elizabeth I. Tralee was granted to Edward Denny by Elizabeth I in 1587 and subsequently created by royal charter in 1613.
A monument commemerating the 1798 rebellion - a statue of a Pikeman by Albert Power stands in Denny Street.
The modern layout of Tralee was created in the 19th Century. Denny Street a wide Georgian street was completed in 1826 on the site of the old castle.
Tralee Court house was designed by Sir Richard Morrison and built in 1835. It has monuments of two cannons commemorating those Kerry men who died in the Crimean war (1854-1856) and the Indian Rebellion (1857).
The Ashe Memorial Hall sits at one end of Denny Street, dedicated to the memory of Thomas Ashe. The building is built of local sandstone and houses the Kerry Museum and a reconstruction of early Tralee.
Tourism
Tralee is also famous for the annual "Rose of Tralee" beauty contest for Irish women and foreign women of Irish descent.
Amenities include:
- Kerry County Museum – incorporating the theme park 'Kerry: The Kingdom',
- Siamsa Tire-Folk theatre – offering traditional music and plays in gaelic.
- Blennerville Windmill and about 2 km outside the town, Irelands largest still functioning windmill.
Transport
Tralee is served by National Primary and Secondary roads as well as local routes.
National Primary Routes:
National Secondary Routes:
Regional roads:
- R556 (north) to Ballybunion
There is a train service to Killarney, Limerick, Cork and Dublin operated by the national railway operator Iarnród Éireann. Bus Éireann provides bus connections to Dublin, Limerick, Galway, Cork, Killarney and to Dingle.
Kerry International Airport located in Farranfore between Tralee and Killarney provides air services.
The local port for Tralee is Fenit, about 10 km west of the town on the north side of the estuary.
Education
Primary Education:
- C.B.S., Clounalour
- St. Mary's, Moyderwell
- Presentation, Castle Street
- St. John's, Ashe Street
- St. John's, Balloonagh
- Holy Family, Balloonagh
Secondary:
- St. Mary's C.B.S
- Tralee Community College
- Mercy Mounthawk
- Gaelcholaiste Chiarraí, Moyderwell
- Presentation Convent, Castle Street
Third Level
See also
External links
- Tralee365 (http://www.tralee365.com/)
- Tralee (http://www.tralee.ie/)
- Institute of Technology, Tralee (http://www.ittralee.ie/)
- County Kerry Atlas (http://www.kerrycoco.ie/ATLAS)