Knightstown, County Kerry Explained

Knightstown
Native Name Lang:ga
Settlement Type:Village
Pushpin Map:Ireland
Pushpin Label Position:right
Pushpin Map Caption:Location in Ireland
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:Ireland
Subdivision Type1:Province
Subdivision Name1:Munster
Subdivision Type3:County
Subdivision Name3:County Kerry
Unit Pref:Metric
Population As Of:2022
Population:244
Population Footnotes:[1]
Population Density Km2:auto
Timezone1:WET
Utc Offset1:+0
Timezone1 Dst:IST (WEST)
Utc Offset1 Dst:-1
Coordinates:51.9253°N -10.2938°W
Blank Name:Irish Grid Reference

Knightstown (also Irish: An Chois),[2] 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.

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

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Census Mapping - Towns: Knightstown - Population Snapshot . CSO . visual.cso.ie . 2022 . 16 June 2024 .
  2. http://www.logainm.ie/22434.aspx Placenames Database of Ireland
  3. Web site: Knightstown . West Iveragh Settlements Local Area Plan . . 26 January 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20101124160550/http://kerrycoco.ie/en/allservices/planning/planspolicies/localareaplans/westiveraghsettlementslocalareaplan/thefile%2C1829%2Cen.pdf . 24 November 2010 .
  4. http://www.rnli.org.uk/rnli_near_you/ireland/stations/ValentiaKerry/history RNLI Lifeboat Station History
  5. https://www.valentiaisland.ie/explore-valentia/valentia-heritage-centre/ Valentia Heritage Centre
  6. https://www.tidytowns.ie/u_reports/2018/kerry/2018-County-Kerry-Knightstown-342.pdf Knightstown Tidy Towns Report 2018