Editing Ardfert (section)

==History==
Ardfert is a [[parish]] in the [[Barony of Clanmaurice]], County Kerry, Ireland, anciently in the territory of Ui Fearba/Hy Ferba, of which the O'Laeghain (O'Leyne, Leen or Lane) were once the Gaelic Lords, until [[Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland|Norman invasion of Ireland]]. 
[[File:Ardfert cathedral.jpg|thumb|left|Ardfert Cathedral]]
Ardfert is the home of St. Brendan's [[Ardfert Cathedral]], which was destroyed in the [[Irish Rebellion of 1641]], and the birthplace of [[St. Brendan the Navigator]], who was educated about the year 500 AD. He founded a [[monastery]] there in the sixth century, but both town and monastery were destroyed by fire in 1089, and again in 1151.

The [[Normans|Norman]] influence can still be seen not only in the [[architecture]], but also in local family surnames such as the Cantillons (Barons de [[Ballyheigue]]), and Fitzmaurices,{{citation needed|date=April 2022}} and in place names, such as Ballintobeenig, a nearby townland below Mt. Crusline called after St. Aubin.<ref>The Chevalier St. Aubin was a Knight Commander of the [[Knights Hospitaller|Knights of Malta]], who ran against the naval blockade imposed by the [[Ottoman Turks]] during the [[Great Siege of Malta]] in 1565. See ''Malta 1565 - Last Battle of the Crusades'', by Tim Pickles, published by Osprey Publishing, Oxford, UK, 1998 {{ISBN|978-1-85532-603-3}}, page 33</ref> [[Thomas FitzMaurice, 1st Baron Kerry]] founded a [[Franciscan]] friary there in 1253, and Nicholas, the 2nd Lord Kerry, built a [[leper]] house there in 1312. It was the seat of a [[Diocese|bishopric]] until 1660.

The [[Crusade]]r [[Knights Hospitaller]] of the Order of Saint John of [[Jerusalem]] (later known as Knights of Malta), also had some rights in Ardfert, although there is a record of a dispute between them and the Franciscans in 1325 about the market cross and [[pillory]]. They had already been established in the area in c. 1200 when [[Meiler FitzHenry]], grandson of King [[Henry I of England]], and Justiciar of Ireland under King John, established a preceptory at Rattoo under a Fra' William from Dublin.<ref>See pages 52 and 253, 254 and 256 of ''Discovering Kerry - its History, Heritage and Topography'', by T. J. Barrington, published by The Blackwater Press, Dublin, 1976. ({{ISBN|0-905471-00-8}})</ref> Under the terms of a royal grant in [[letters patent]] of [[James I of England]] on 6 July 1612, the [[Lord of Kerry]] (FitzMaurice) could hold courts [[baron]] and leet.

The [[Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland]], recount how in 1601, Prince [[Hugh Roe O'Donnell]], on his way to the [[Battle of Kinsale]], sent some of his kinsmen troops there to reconquer Ardfert, [[Lixnaw]], and Ballykeally for his ally FitzMaurice. En route, he visited and venerated a relic of the [[True Cross]] ([[Holyrood (cross)|Holy rood]]) on the Feast of St. Andrew, on 30 November 1601, at [[Holy Cross Abbey]], near [[Thurles]], [[County Tipperary]], which was a rallying point for the defence of religious freedom and for Irish sovereignty. From there he sent an expedition to Ardfert, to win a quick victory and recover the territory of his ally, Fitzmaurice, Lord of Kerry, who had lost it and his 9-year-old son, to Sir Charles Wilmot. The expedition captured Caislean Gearr (Short Castle, of which no trace remains), adjacent to the Cathedral in Ardfert. An [[O'Donnell]] from [[Tyrconnell]] remained behind in stewardship to hold it, according to "''The Life of Hugh Roe O'Donnell, Prince of Tyrconnell''"written by [[Lughaidh O'Cléirigh]], circa 1603 in Gaelic.<ref>The following is an extract from ''The Life of Hugh Roe O'Donnell, Prince of Tyrconnell (Beatha Aodh Rua O Domhnaill)'' by Lughaidh O'Cleirigh (original Gaelic manuscript in the Royal Irish Academy in Dublin), translated with notes by Rev. Denis Murphy, S.J., M.R.I.A., and published by Sealy, Bryers, & Walker, Dublin, 1893 (pages 304-307): ''Ro tharmnaidheadh do mhuintir uí Dhomhnaill an turus do deachattor ar ro creachadh agus ro leirscriosadh sochaidhe leó do earccairdibh mic Muiris do neoch robtar fotha dia tocharsomh for longus agus ionnarbadh co húa nDomhnaill, agus ro gabhadh leó tri caisteoil do daghdúinibh an tíre, i. Leachsnamha, Caislén Gerr Arda Fearta, agus Baile Uí Chadhla, agus fosragaibhseat drong dia muintir occa niomchoimhéd.'' (pages 304, 306)</ref>
[[File:JOD-tomb.jpg|thumb|Tomb of John O'Donnell in the grounds of Ardfert Cathedral]]

A large tomb in the grounds of the cathedral was built much later by John O'Donnell (1803–1879), the most prominent descendant two centuries later, and whose own direct male descendant was the late [[Patrick Denis O'Donnell]] (1922–2005), the Irish military historian. He owned the summit overlooking Ardfert (Mt. Crusline, Ballintobeenig, from where his ancestral [[O'Donnell of Tyrconnell]], under authority of Prince [[Hugh Roe O'Donnell]] would have launched the battle to regain Ardfert for Lord Kerry in 1601). The family seat of John O'Donnell, at Tubrid mentioned by [[Samuel Lewis (publisher)|Samuel Lewis]] in his 1837 ''Topographical Dictionary of Ireland'', passed through a female line to the O'Carrolls. The house expanded by John O'Donnell in Tubridmore was listed as an intended "protected structure" in the archaeological monuments section of the draft Kerry County Development Plan 2015–2021.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://atomik.kerrycoco.ie/ebooks/devplan/pdfs/protected/021-003.pdf | website = kerrycoco.ie | title = Kerry Development Plan - Protected Structures | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140606204319/http://atomik.kerrycoco.ie/ebooks/devplan/pdfs/protected/021-003.pdf | archive-date = 6 June 2014 }}</ref>

In the early 19th century, the [[Earl of Listowel]] (Hare) was [[Lord of the Manor]] and held court every three weeks in Ardfert, through an appointed [[Seneschal]], having bought those rights from the Earl of Kerry, Fitzmaurice.

[[File:Ardfert Friary SW 2012 09 11.jpg|thumb|Ardfert Friary]]
The area's archaeological heritage includes the medieval cathedral, St. Brendan's, and associated churches, Temple na Hoe (Church of the young Virgin) and Temple na Griffin. Several have these have become [[heritage tourism]] attractions in the Kerry area due to their central location.{{citation needed|date=April 2022}} The 13th century Franciscan Friary, to the north east of the village, was once an integral part of Ardfert Abbey - not an abbey at all but the name of the Talbot-Crosbie mansion destroyed by fire in 1922 by the IRA.

Five other structures included on the [[Record of Protected Structures]] (RPS) are located in Ardfert; St Brendan's Catholic Church (consecrated in 1855), the Old Gates of the Earl of [[Glandore]]'s Demesne, the Talbot-Crosbie Memorial, the Ardfert Parish Room (now a site registered as derelict by Kerry County Council) and Brandon House. There are also many other structures within the village which are not included in the RPS, but are considered to be of considerable architectural and heritage value, such as the Ardfert Retreat Center.{{citation needed|date=April 2022}} Also nearby are the surviving [[Estate (house)|estate]] walls which contribute to the character and identity of the village.{{citation needed|date=April 2022}}