Tralee Times
'Now Is Never Too Late For The Future'
HISTORY PAGE
Lewis's Topographical Directory of Ireland, 1837
Archiseek / Ireland / Buildings of Ireland / Kerry / Tralee / Lewis's Topographical Directory of Ireland, 1837
TRALEE, a borough, assize, sea port, market and post town and a parish, in the barony of
TRUGHENACKMY, county of KERRY, and province of MUNSTER, 58¼ miles (W. N. W.) from Cork, and 151
(S. W. by W.) from Dublin; containing 11,021 inhabitants, of which number 9563 are in the town.
Its ancient name, Traleigh, is derived from its situation near the point at which the river Leigh discharges itself
into the broad sandy bay of Tralee; this river, though apparently so insignificant as to be covered over during
its course through the town, is occasionally so much swelled by the winter torrents from the mountains as to
cause much inconvenience and at times damage to the inhabitants. The first historical notice of the town is the
foundation of a Dominican monastery, in 1213, by John FitzThomas, of the Geraldine family, who having been
slain with his son Maurice and many of his followers in the battle at Callan against McCarthy More, was
interred in it. In 1324, Maurice Fitz Maurice, fourth lord of Kerry, slew Dermot McCarthy in the presence of the
judge of assize, for which act he was severely punished. In 1576, the great Earl of Desmond, who claimed the
privilege that his palatinate should not be amenable to the jurisdiction of the King's judges, having in vain
endeavoured to prevent Sir Wm. Drury, then Lord Justice, from holding the assizes at Tralee, invited him to his
castle, where he met him attended by a large body of his followers. The Lord Justice, seeing them advancing
towards him in military order, suspected treachery and ordered his attendants to charge them, upon which
Desmond and his men fled with the greatest precipitation, leaving his countess to explain the causes of the
alarm. In 1579, Sir Henry Davels, who had been sent by the Lord Deputy to summon the Earl of Desmond to
join him with his forces against the Spaniards, who had landed at Smerwick, on his return from this mission
was assassinated at Tralee by Sir John Desmond, a relation of the earl. In 1600, Sir Chas. Wilmot here routed
a party of the Irish with considerable slaughter. At the breaking out of the war of 1641 all the English families in
and about Tralee took shelter in the castle belonging to Sir Edw. Denny, to whom it had been granted after the
death of the Earl of Desmond, and the forfeiture of his property; and Sir Edward assembled all his tenants for
its defence, but being ordered away on another duty he left the newcomers to their own resources, which they
exerted so effectually that they kept the beseigers at bay for six months until, being worn out with fatigue and
huger, and discouraged by the death of their governor, Sir Thomas Harris, they surrendered. The town was
soon after destroyed and the surrounding courty wasted by the Irish, on the approach of Lord Inchiquin, to
prevent him from making it his head quarters. It was treated in a similar manner in 1691, on the approach of
King William's forces.
The town, which with the surrounding district, is the property of Sir Edw. Denny, contained in 1831, 1354
houses; it is situated near the foot of a range of mountains and about a mile and a half from the bay of the
same name, on a site so low as to be occasionally flooded when high spring tides meet the mountain torrents.
It consists of an irregular main street, upwards of a mile long, having several streets branching laterally from it
on each side; the streets, which are kept in repair by county presentments, are partially paved and flagged, but
not lighted; a proposal made to remedy these defects, and to procure the inhabitants a full supply of water,
under the provisions of the act of the 9th of Geo. IV., c. 82, was rejected by a public meeting convened in
1832, and the town is now provided with water from pumps fitted up by subscription during the prevalence of
the cholera. It has been much improved within the last few years by the erection of several good houses, and
the formation of a new street, named Denny street, formed on the site of the ancient castle of the Earl of
Desmond, at the western extremity of which is the entrance to the castle demesne, which has been lately much
improved, and forms a delightful promenade open to the public. The county club and news-room is in this
street, and there are two other reading and news-rooms, called the Chamber of Commerce and the
Constitutional Club. Races are held at the spa in July or August, and an annual regatta in the bay has been
lately established. The barracks, at Ballymullen, about half a mile from the town, and capable of
accommodating 17 officers, and 456 non-commissioned officers and privates and 6 horses, with an hospital
for 30 patients, form a substantial building, erected in 1810 at an expense of £20,000; they stand in an
enclosed area of about 15½ acres. Near the barracks is the brewery of Mr. Bender, also the distillery of
Messrs. Newell and Grant, which manufactures upwards of 70,000 gallons of whiskey annually. The extensive
ale and porter brewery of Messrs. Cox and Tidmarsh, producing about 2300 tierces annually, and another on a
less extensive scale are situated in the town.
The markets, which are held on Tuesday and Saturday, are abundantly supplied with meat and vegetables,
and with fish from the bays of Dingle and Tralee; there are no regular market-places, and the dealings are
carried on in the public streets, to the great inconvenience of the inhabitants; the provost acts as clerk of the
market in examining the weights and measures and in correcting abuses and deciding disputes; market jurors
are sworn at quarter sessions. The town has an extensive retail trade. Fairs are held on May 3rd, Aug. 4th and
5th, Oct. 9th and 10th, Nov. 7th and 8th, and Dec. 13th. There are branches of the Bank of Ireland and of the
Provincial and National Banks in the town. About 15 years since the export of grain was confined to two or
three small cargoes annually; there is now a considerable export, which is increasing every year; the chief
articles are wheat and oats, the barley being mostly purchased for home consumption; butter is also exported,
but not to its former extent; coal and timber are the chief articles imported. The improvements in the trade,
commerce, and general appearance of Tralee have been very considerable of late years, and are rapidly
progressing notwithstanding the inconvenience arising from the extreme shallowness of the water in the river
which prevents the approach of vessels exceeding 50 or 60 tons nearer than Blennerville, about 1½ mile
distant, and obliges large vessels to lie at the Samphire islands, off Fenit point, a distance of about five miles.
To remedy this defect, a local act of the 9th of Geo. IV., c. 118, was procured, creating a corporate board of
commissioners for the purpose of constructing a navigable canal adequate to bring up large vessels to the
town. The canal, which is now in progress, commences at Croompane Rockard, near the west end of the town,
where there is a basin 400 feet by 150, on the north side of which is to be a quay faced with hen stone; the
canal, which proceeds thence to the Blackrock, beyond Blennerville, is to be 74 feet wide and 15 feet deep;
the estimated expense is £24,000. When finished, vessels of 300 tons' burden will be enabled to discharge at
the quay. The canal commissioners are empowered to impose certain dues on the imports and exports, and
on vessels coming into the port; these dues, in 1834, amounted to £600. The amount of the excise duties of
the district, for the year 1835, was £11,265 9s. 6d. The town is the head station of the coast guard district and
residence of the inspecting commander; it comprises the stations of Castlegregory, Kilfinura, Ballyheigne, the
Cashen river, and Beale. It is also a chief constabulary police station.
The town was incorporated by a charter of the 10th of Jas. I., under the name of "The Provost, Free
Burgesses, and Commonalty of the Borough of Tralee; "to consist of a provost, 12 burgesses and a
commonalty. The provost, elected annually, is hereby appointed clerk of the market, justice of the peace for the
county of Kerry, and judge of a borough court of record. The burgesses are elected for life; the charter
declares all the inhabitants of the borough freemen together with such others as the provost and free
burgesses admit; but as the freedom gives no privilege but that of exemption from tolls, it has never been
claimed as of right. The charter grants to the borough the right of returning two members to parliament and
vests the election in the provost and burgesses; the borough was disfranchised at the Union, but by the act of
the 2nd of Wm. IV., cap. 88, it is empowered to return one member to by elected by the £10 householders,
with a restoration of their former right of voting to the burgesses, provided they be resident in the borough or
within seven miles of it. The borough is not co-extensive with the parish, but comprises a portion of the country
round the town to the extent of about seven miles in circumference. The new electoral boundary, including part
of the parish of Ratass, in which are the county gaol and the barracks, comprises an are of 534 statute acres,
the limits of which are particularly described in the Appendix; the provost is the returning officer. He also
presides at a court of record, held every Thursday, for personal actions not exceeding five marks, Irish. The
assizes for the county of Kerry are held at Tralee; and general sessions of the peace four times in the year;
petty sessions are held every Tuesday. The county court-house, erected near the eastern end of Denny street,
at an expense of £14,000, is an edifice of great elegance: its form presents a Grecian portico approached by
a noble flight of steps and surmounted with a fine pediment; the main building, which is circular, has the
criminal court of justice on the one side, and the civil on the other, separated by the judges' and other
chambers in the centre of the building; the county offices are in the rear. The county gaol, situated near the
barracks, is a large and substantial building on the radiating principle, consisting of an octangular centre
containing the governor's apartments, from which project two lateral wings and one rearward containing wards
for the male prisoners; in the front are two detached buildings for female prisoners and debtors, and in the rear
another of semicircular form for a chapel; it affords accommodations, with separate beds, for 209 prisoners,
and has a treadmill.
The parish contains 4393½ statute acres, as applotted under the tithe act; it is intersected by the small rivers
Ballymullen and Leigh, which unite just before they fall into the strait or haven at the western entrance of the
town. The soil is in general of superior quality and chiefly in tillage; the system of agriculture is gradually
improving: it contains some mountain pasture and shallow bog. Limestone and black marble are found within
its limits; the materials with which the new court-house was constructed were chiefly raised from a quarry of
fine limestone near the castle green which has been since filled up and planted. Sea weed from Tralee bay is
in general use for manure.
The principal gentlemen's seats in the vicinity are Ballyseedy, the finely planted demesne of Arth.
Blennerhasset, Esq., now occupied by Sir Edw. Denny, Bart.; Oak Park, the residence of John Bateman, Esq.,
situated in grounds well wooded with oak, among which are some trees of singular size and beauty, and open
to the public; Belmont, of the Rev. A. B. Rowan; Ballard House, of Fras. Crosbie, Esq.; Spring Lodge, of F. J.
Martelli, Esq.; Lower Cannon, of J. Eagar, Esq.; Magh, of W. Seely, Esq.; Chute Hall, of W. Chute, Esq.;
Spring Hill, of Capt. Chute; Arbella, of Fras. Peet, Esq.; Plover Hill, of Gen. Gun, Esq.; and Frogmore Lodge,
of the Rev. Barry Denny.
The living is a rectory in the diocese of Ardfert and Aghadoe, and in the patronage of Sir Edw. Denny; the
tithes amount to £408. 7s. 7d. The glebe-house is a large and commodious building adjoining the church; the
glebe comprises 11a. 0r. 29p. The church, which was enlarge in 1819 by aid of a loan of £2450 from the late
Board of First Fruits, and more recently enlarged and thoroughly repaired by a fund raised by subscription and
the sale of the pews, is a large and handsome structure with a square tower surmounted with pinnacles.
In the Roman Catholic divisions the parish is the head of a union or district, comprising also the greater part of
the parishes of Annagh, Clogherbrien, and Ratass; the chapel is a spacious and handsome edifice, the
entrance to which from the High street is through a fine avenue bordered with trees. A convent for nuns of the
order of the Presentation, established about 12 years since, has a small chapel attached to it.
There are places of worship for Calvinistic Independents and Wesleyan Methodists.
A school, under the superintendence of the incumbent, was built about 12 years since by aid of a grant of £140
from the Lord Lieutenant's fund, and shortly after its erection was placed in connection with the trustees of
Erasmus Smith's charity, who allow the master a fixed salary of £20 per ann. and a contingent gratuity of £10;
there is also a school for females formerly in connection with the London Hibernian Society, held under the
same roof; the salary of the mistress is paid by subscriptions, which average £30 per ann.; the building can
accommodate 80 children of each sex, and both schools are under the superintendence of the Protestant
clergyman. A male school in connection with the Board of National Education is held in a large edifice,
consisting of an upper and lower apartment, each extending the whole length of the building and together
affording accommodation for about 800 children. A female free school is connected with the convent of the
Presentation by the nuns of which the children are instructed in the elements of useful literature, and in lace
making and needle work; it is partly supported by a grant from the same Board. There are five private schools,
the number of children instructed in all these schools is about 830. There is also a Sunday school in the town.
The county infirmary with a dispensary attached has been established here. The county fever hospital, a
substantial modern building forming three sides of a quadrangle, and capable of accommodating 200
patients, is situated in a spacious are in the vicinity. There is also a temporary asylum for the reception of
lunatics previously to their transmission to the district lunatic asylum at Limerick. Two asylums for the aged and
impotent poor are supported respectively by the Protestant and Catholic inhabitants. A neat row of six
almshouses, affording accommodation to 36 poor widoes, was built in 1832 by Dr McEniry, P.P., at an
expense of £600; the widoes are selected by the parish priest. The interest of £1000 Irish, bequeathed by
Miss Tuomy, of Tralee, who died about 30 years since, is distributed by the parish priest among the poor,
generally at Christmas.
The only relics of the ancient abbey are some sculptured ornaments which have been built into the form of the
R. C. chapel and of the adjoining school house. At Ballybeggan are the remains of a castle and at the northern
outlet are some slight vestiges of the castle of Mac Allistrom or Ellistrom. On the northern shore of the bay,
about three miles from the town, is a celebrated chalybeate spring, which has given the name of Spa to a
small watering place, that is described under its own head.
Tralee in 1843
TRALEE, the assize-town of the county of Kerry, in the province of Munster in Ireland, 159 miles in a direct
line south-west of Dublin, or 192 miles by the mail-road through Naas, Maryborough, Roscrea, Nenagh,
Limerick, Rathkeale, Tarbert, and Listowel; 73 miles south-west of Limerick, and 74 miles west-north-west
of Cork, through Macroom and Killarney.
Tralee derives its name (‘Traigh-lee,’ ‘the strand or shore of the Lee') from its position near the outfall of
the little river Lee into the shallow and unsafe bay of Tralee.
There was anciently a Dominican friary, under the invocation of the Holy Cross, founded (A.D. 1213) by
John FitzThomas, one of the great Geraldine family.
The Knights of St. John of Jerusalem had also a commandery in this neighbourhood.
In the Irish wars of Queen Elizabeth a body of Irish was routed at Tralee (A.D. 1600) with great slaughter
by Sir Charles Wilmot.
The Earl of Desmond had a castle here, which having come, on the forfeiture of the earl, into the hands of
Sir Edward Denny, served as a place of refuge for the English families resident in and about the town
when Tralee was entered by the insurgents in the great rebellion of 1641.
The castle held out for six months, but was at last obliged to surrender. The town was soon after burned,
to prevent its falling into the hands of Lord Inchiquin.
It was again burned (A.D. 1691) on the approach of King William's army.
Tralee is in the barony of Trughenackmy: the parish is about four miles in length and one and a half in
breadth, and has an area of 4,391 acres, statute measure: the population in 1831 was as follows:—
The borough comprehends not only the town, but a considerable rural district around it: it does not
however comprehend the whole parish.
The population of the borough, in 1821, was only 7,547; so that the increase in ten years (1821-31) was
2,021: and the population has considerably increased since 1831.
The town is irregularly laid out on a low site, north of the river Lee, and at some little distance from the
bay, it is liable from its situation to be flooded when there are spring-tides in the bay and the stream of
the Lee is swollen.
The streets are repaired by county presentment, and are partially paved and flagged, but not lighted;
neither is there any nightly watch. An attempt to introduce the provisions of the new paving and lighting
act (9 Geo. IV, c. 82) was resisted by the inhabitants.
The sewers in the town are bad, and the streets are very dirty. There is no regular market-place, and the
business of the market is conducted in the streets.
Some of the streets are lined with respectable dwelling-houses (several of them of a superior description)
and good shops; and the town has undergone great improvement within the last few years.
The church is a large and handsome building, with a square tower crowned with pinnacles: the
congregation averages 700 persons, and is increasing.
There is a large and handsome Roman Catholic chapel (attended by 3,000 persons), a small Methodist
meeting-house, and another small one for Independents.
Detached from the town, half a mile to the south-east, are the county gaol and a barrack; they are both
substantial buildings; the gaol, built on the radiating principle, is capable of accommodating more than 200
prisoners; the barrack is capable of accommodating nearly 500 men, and has an hospital for 30 patients.
A considerable brewery and a distillery are near the gaol. The county court-house, a handsome building of
modern erection, is in the town; and in the same street as the court-house is the county club and news-
room.
There are an extensive brewery, besides that already mentioned, and a smaller brewery, both in the town.
The trade of Tralee is considerable, and it has been for some years rapidly progressive.
In 1831, 991 persons were employed in the town and borough in retail trade and handicraft; and there
were 214 capitalists, bankers, professional, and other educated men.
There are two weekly markets, well supplied, and five yearly fairs. There are three banking establishments.
The town is well supplied with fish, and on reasonable terms.
Tralee is a port, but vessels have had to take in and discharge their cargoes at Blennerville, on the shore
of the bay, a mile and a quarter distant: a ship-canal is in progress, perhaps finished by this time, by
which vessels of 300 tons will be enabled to come up to the town, at the west end of which a large basin
has been constructed.
The port is visited yearly (taking the average of the seven years from 1827 to 1833) by about seven
vessels (having a total of 1500 to 1600 tons) from foreign parts; in the same years nearly forty coasters
(about 3000 tons) from Great Britain entered inwards, and about twenty-five coasters (800 to 1000 tons)
from other ports in Ireland; while about fifty-five coasters (about 4000 tons) cleared out for Great Britain,
and about fifteen or sixteen coasters (500 to 700 tons) for other ports in Ireland.
The trade with Great Britain, especially the export trade, was steadily increasing through that interval; but
the trade with other ports of Ireland was decreasing.
The chief foreign goods imported were timber, deals, and staves; the chief article of import from Great
Britain was coals; and the chief exports were wheat and oats, both rapidly increasing; barley, also
increasing; and butter, which was diminishing.
The corporation of Tralee (consisting of a provost, twelve free burgesses, and other officers) was created
by charter of James I.
It never had any property except the tolls on the Tuesday market and on one of the fairs: it has been
abolished by the late act (3 & 4 Victoria, c. 108) for regulating the Irish municipal corporations.
Before the abolition there was a provost's court, which was a court of record for all personal actions not
exceeding the sum of five marks.
Petty sessions were held by the provost and some of the county magistrates twice a week. There was no
borough gaol.
The assizes for the county of Kerry are held here ; and the assistant-barrister for the county sits at
quarter-sessions and for the trial of civil bills four times in the year. Some of the county police are
stationed in the town.
Tralee returns one member to parliament. By the Irish Boundary Act (2 & 3 Wm. IV., c. 89), a boundary
was adopted for parliamentary purposes, more restricted than the existing municipal boundary, but
comprehending all the town, and allowing space for its extension.
The number of electors on the register in 1839-40 was 296, namely 285 ten-pound householders and 11
freemen.
Tralee is a rectory in the diocese of Ardfert, and in the province of Cashel, now united to that of Dublin:
the gross yearly value of the living is estimated at £454, 7 shillings, 7 pence, the net value at £377, 16
shillings; there is a glebe-house fit for residence.
In the Roman Catholic division the parish is united with the greater portion of three adjacent parishes.
There is a nunnery of the order of the Presentation.
There were in the year 1835 nine day-schools in the parish of Tralee: one of these, a free-school, with an
average attendance of 50 children, was under the superintendence of the rector, and was supported by a
grant from Erasmus Smith's fund, and by contributions from the clergy of the establishment; a second
free-school was under the same superintendence; two others, free-schools, with an average attendance
of 500 children, were under the superintendence of the Roman Catholic clergy, and were partly taught by
the nuns of the Presentation; the other five schools, with an average attendance of 35 children each, were
respectable schools, kept by ladies, and supported by the payments of the pupils.
The county fever-hospital, the county infirmary, with a dispensary attached, are at Tralee; and there are
two asylums for the poor, a neat row of almshouses, a temporary asylum for lunatics before sending them
to the district asylum at Limerick, and a prosperous savings' bank.
Races are held near the town, and a yearly regatta in the bay. There is a chalybeate spring about three
miles west of the town, it is not in Tralee parish, on the northern shore of the bay, round which a small
watering-place has risen up, called 'the Spa of Tralee,' or more concisely 'Spa.'
There is an excellent strand for bathing. There are several gentlemen's seats round Tralee. Good
limestone for building is quarried near the town.
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