Editing Cahersiveen

{{short description|Town in County Kerry, Ireland}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{Use Hiberno-English|date=May 2021}}
{{Infobox settlement
| settlement_type          = Town
| name                     = Cahersiveen
| native_name              = {{lang|ga|Cathair Saidhbhín}}
| image_skyline            = Cahersiveen.jpg
| image_caption            = Main Street
| pushpin_map              = Ireland
| pushpin_label_position   = right
| pushpin_map_caption      = Location in Ireland
| coordinates              = {{coord|51.948|-10.224|dim:100000_region:IE|display=inline,title}}
| blank_name_sec1          = Irish Grid Reference
| blank_info_sec1          = {{iem4ibx|V469795}}
| subdivision_type         = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
| subdivision_name         = [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]]
| subdivision_type1        = [[Provinces of Ireland|Province]]
| subdivision_name1        = [[Munster]]
| subdivision_type2        = [[Counties of Ireland|County]]
| subdivision_name2        = [[County Kerry]]
| unit_pref                = Metric
| elevation_m              = 79
| population_as_of         = [[2022 census of Ireland|2022]]
| population               = 1,297
| population_total         = 
| population_footnotes     = <ref name=cso2022>{{cite web | url = https://visual.cso.ie/?body=entity/ima/cop/2022&boundary=C04160V04929&guid=3b501e8a-250a-4510-9305-051bf3f9d206 | title = Interactive Data Visualisations: Towns: Cahirciveen | work = Census 2022 | publisher = [[Central Statistics Office (Ireland)|Central Statistics Office]]| access-date = 30 September 2023}}</ref>
}}
{{Historical populations|state=collapsed
|1831|1192
|1841|1492
|1851|1862
|1861|1802
|1871|1925
|1881|2003
|1891|1987
|1901|2013
|1911|1896
|1926|1773
|1936|1680
|1946|1779
|1951|1687
|1956|1801
|1961|1659
|1966|1649
|1971|1547
|1981|1428
|1986|1310
|1991|1213
|1996|1250
|2002|1272
|2006|1294
|2011|1168
|2016|1,041
|2022|1,297
|footnote=<ref name=cso2022/><ref>[http://www.cso.ie/census Census for post 1821 figures.]</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.histpop.org  |title=Histpop - The Online Historical Population Reports Website |date= |website=www.histpop.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160507023856/http://www.histpop.org/ |archive-date=7 May 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nisranew.nisra.gov.uk/census |title=Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency - Census Home Page |access-date=2014-02-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120217095720/http://www.nisranew.nisra.gov.uk/census |archive-date=2012-02-17 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book
|last=Lee|first=J. J.| author-link =J. J. Lee (historian)|editor-last=Goldstrom|editor-first=J. M.|editor2-last=Clarkson
|editor2-first=L. A.|title=Irish Population, Economy, and Society: Essays in Honour of the Late K. H. Connell
|year=1981|publisher=Clarendon Press|location=Oxford, England
|chapter=On the accuracy of the [[Great Famine (Ireland)|Pre-famine]] Irish censuses}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal  | last1 = Mokyr  | first1 = Joel
  | author-link = Joel Mokyr  | last2 = Ó Gráda  | first2 = Cormac
  | author2-link = Cormac Ó Gráda  | title = New Developments in Irish Population History, 1700-1850  | journal = The Economic History Review  | volume = 37  | issue = 4
  | pages = 473–488  |date=November 1984
  | url = http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/120035880/abstract  | archive-url = https://archive.today/20121204160709/http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/120035880/abstract  | url-status = dead  | archive-date = 4 December 2012  | doi = 10.1111/j.1468-0289.1984.tb00344.x
| hdl = 10197/1406
 | hdl-access = free  }}</ref><ref name="cso2016">{{cite web| url = http://census.cso.ie/sapmap2016/Results.aspx?Geog_Type=ST2016&Geog_Code=61A2E379-E9FA-4E55-86D1-30CCE8D86103 | title = Census 2016 - SAPMAP Area - Settlements - Cahersiveen | publisher = CSO | work = Census 2016 | date = 2016 | access-date = 19 August 2018}}</ref>
}}
'''Cahersiveen'''<ref name="PDI">[http://www.logainm.ie/22092.aspx Placenames Database of Ireland]</ref><ref name="OSI">{{cite web |url=http://maps.osi.ie/publicviewer/#V1,446544,580052,1 |title=Ordnance Survey Ireland - Online map viewer |access-date=2010-07-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120829114800/http://maps.osi.ie/publicviewer/#V1,446544,580052,1 |archive-date=2012-08-29 |url-status=dead }}</ref> ({{Irish place name|Cathair Saidhbhín|Little [[Sadhbh]]'s stone [[ringfort]]}}), sometimes '''Cahirciveen''', is a town in the south-west of [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]], in [[County Kerry]]. As of the [[2022 census of Ireland|2022 census]], it had a population of 1,297.<ref name=cso2022/>

==Geography==
Cahersiveen is on the slopes of 376-metre-high [[Bentee]], and on the lower course of the [[River Ferta]]. It is the principal settlement of the [[Iveragh Peninsula]], near [[Valentia Island]]. The town is 50&nbsp;km west of [[Killarney]].

==History==
Evidence of ancient settlement in the area includes a number of [[ring fort]], [[holy well]], [[ring barrow]], and castle sites in the [[townland]]s of Cahersiveen, Garranebane and Carhan.<ref>{{cite book | title = The Iveragh Peninsula: an Archaeological Survey of South Kerry | publisher = Cork University Press | date = 1996 | editor-first1 = A. | editor-last1 = O'Sullivan | editor-first2 = J. | editor-last2 = Sheehan | isbn = 9780902561847 }}</ref> These include the stone forts of [[Cahergall]] and [[Leacanabuaile]], which stand close to each other a short distance from the town. The ruins of [[Ballycarbery Castle]], a 16th century [[tower house]] that was extended into an L-shape plan, are also nearby.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.castles.nl/ballycarbery-castle | website = castles.nl | title = Ballycarbery Castle | accessdate = 22 May 2025 }}</ref>

In 1597, the Iveragh estate was received by [[Trinity College Dublin|Trinity College, Dublin]] as part of a royal grant. It previously belonged to the [[Earl of Desmond]]. The 8,808 acre estate stretched from [[Killorglin]] all the way to Valentia incorporating the parishes of Glenbegh, Killinane, Cahir, Killemlagh, Dromod, Prior and Valentia.<ref name="thesis">{{cite thesis | url = https://walkoftheancestors.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Marys-Thesis-1997.pdf | date = 1997 | title = Aspects of Cahersiveen town and parish, 1811-1867 | via = walkoftheancestors.com }}</ref>

The Scottish civil engineer [[Alexander Nimmo]] first visited Cahersiveen in 1811 as sent by the Bog Commission. He noted the lack of development, and poverty, in the estate, and that the main road to the area was unpassable by carriage at that time. Over the next few years, whilst planning the bogs of the estate he also designed many road and bridge plans. The most notable of these was the main road through Iveragh into the town built in 1822.<ref name="thesis"/>

It was here the first shots of the [[Fenian Rising]] were fired in 1867.{{cn|date=September 2024}}

Cahersiveen was the site of the murder of five local men taken in the early hours of the morning from Bahaghs Workhouse where they were held prisoner, shot in the legs then blown up with a landmine on 12 March 1923 during the [[Irish Civil War|Civil War]].<ref>''Prisoners of conscience: when silence spoke loud'' Irish Independent 7 Jan 2009 https://www.independent.ie/regionals/kerry/lifestyle/prisoners-of-conscience-when-silence-spoke-loud/27379496.html</ref>

Cahersiveen was designated as a "[[Gaeltacht Service Town]]" in June 2023, when the then Minister of State Patrick O'Donovan launched the "Cathair Saidhbhín Language Plan" alongside Kerry County Council.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.gov.ie/en/press-release/665bc-cathair-saidhbhin-language-plan-officially-launched-by-minister-of-state-odonovan/ | title=Cathair Saidhbhín Language Plan officially launched by Minister of State O'Donovan | date=15 June 2023 }}</ref>

==Places of interest==
[[File:O'Connell Memorial Church, Church St, Ring of Kerry, Cahersiveen (506523) (27913057305).jpg|thumb|Daniel O'Connell Memorial Church]]
[[File:Cahersiveen Barracks.jpg|thumb|Royal Irish Constabulary barracks in Cahersiveen]]
The Catholic church in the town, built between 1888 and 1902, is one of few Catholic churches named after a layperson. Dedicated to [[Daniel O'Connell]], the church grounds contain a memorial to O'Connell which face his birthplace at Carhan near Cahersiveen.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.cahersiveen.ie/daniel-o-connell-church | website = cahersiveen.ie | title = Daniel O Connell Church | date = | accessdate = 22 May 2025 }}</ref>

The decommissioned [[Royal Irish Constabulary]] barracks, dating to the 1870s and now a heritage centre, was built in the distinctive "[[Schloss]]" style favoured by its architect, Enoch Trevor Owen. Because of this, it is often claimed to have been mistakenly built from the plans for a British barracks in India – a common myth heard in some other Irish garrison towns.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Old Barracks |url=https://www.askaboutireland.ie/reading-room/culturenet/landscape-heritage/kerry/the-old-barracks/ |website=Ask about Ireland |access-date=28 May 2024}}</ref>

The town falls within the [[Kerry International Dark-Sky Reserve]], the first Gold Tier Reserve in the northern hemisphere and one of only three Gold Tier Dark-Sky Reserves globally.<ref>{{cite news |title=Pope’s Astronomer to visit Kerry’s Dark Sky Reserve |url=https://www.independent.ie/storyplus/popes-astronomer-to-visit-kerrys-dark-sky-reserve/36218183.html |work=Irish Independent |date=11 October 2017 |language=en}}</ref>

==Transport==
Cahersiveen is connected to the [[roads in Ireland|Irish road network]] by the [[N70 road (Ireland)|N70]] [[national secondary road]].

The area was served from 1893 to 1960 by the [[Cahersiveen railway station]] on the [[Great Southern and Western Railway]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Cahersiveen station | work=Railscot - Irish Railways | url=http://www.railscot.co.uk/Ireland/Irish_railways.pdf | access-date=2019-08-08}}</ref>

As at 2024, a number of [[TFI Local Link|Local Link]] buses connect Cahersiveen to other towns and villages in the area, with some services to [[Killorglin]], [[Killarney]] and [[Tralee]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Timetables: Cahersiveen |url=https://www.locallinkkerry.ie/cahersiveen/ |website=Local Link Kerry |access-date=27 March 2024}}</ref>

==Education==
The town's primary school, Scoil Saidhbhín, opened in September 2015. This is an amalgamation of Scoil Mhuire, a boys' primary school and St Joseph's Convent, a girls' primary school. There are four primaries in the parish of Cahersiveen, including those in the town's hinterland: Aghatubrid National School, Coars National School, and Foilmore National School. Aghatubrid was established in 1964 and as of 2019 had about 75 students.<ref>{{cite web|title=Aghatubrid National School, Kerry on SchoolDays.ie|url=https://www.schooldays.ie/school/aghatubrid-n-s-rollnumber-09878V|access-date=2020-11-24|website=www.schooldays.ie}}</ref>

''[[Coláiste na Sceilge]]'' is the town's co-educational secondary school. ''An tAonad Lán-Ghaeilge'' is an all [[Irish language|Irish-speaking]] class for 1st to 3rd-year students, where students do all their learning through Irish.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://colaistenasceilge.ie/ |title = Coláiste na Sceilge &#124; Welcome &#124; We Respect, we care, we learn, we develop, we belong}}</ref>

==In literature==
[[Patrick O'Brian]]'s novel ''[[Post Captain (novel)|Post Captain]]'' gives Cahersiveen as the location of the character [[Stephen Maturin]]'s childhood home in Ireland.

:At present two Highlanders were talking slowly to an Irishman in Gaelic ... as he lay there on his stomach to ease his flayed back. 'I follow them best when I do not attend at all,' observed Stephen, 'it is the child in long clothes that understands, myself in Cahirciveen."<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Post Captain|last=O'Brian|first=Patrick|date=1996|publisher=HarperCollins|isbn=0006499163|location=London|oclc=43221921}}</ref>

Cahirciveen is also the name given to the central city in [[Brian Moore (novelist)|Brian Moore]]'s futuristic novel ''[[Catholics (novel)|Catholics]]''.

== Notable people ==
{{See also|Category:People from Cahersiveen}}
* [[Cornelius Casey]] (1929–2001) – footballer who represented the [[United States men's national soccer team|United States]] national team<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cornelius Casey |url=https://us-soccer.team/player/704 |access-date=March 21, 2025 |website=US Soccer Team}}</ref>
* [[Sigerson Clifford]] (1913–1985) – poet and playwright<ref>{{cite web |title=Clifford, Sigerson |url=https://www.dib.ie/biography/clifford-sigerson-a1751 |work=[[Dictionary of Irish Biography]] |access-date=13 August 2024}}</ref>
* [[Jerry Grogan]] – [[Public address system|stadium announcer]] for [[Gaelic football]] at [[Croke Park]]
* [[Daniel O'Connell]] (1775–1847) – [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|member of parliament]] and the political leader of Ireland's Roman Catholic majority<ref>{{cite web|url=https://derrynanehouse.ie/ |title=Derrynane House |publisher=Derrynanehouse.ie |date= |accessdate=2022-08-16}}</ref>
* [[Hugh O'Flaherty]] (1898–1963) – Catholic priest and a significant figure in the [[Catholic resistance to Nazi Germany]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hughoflaherty.com/index.cfm/page/biography|title=Hugh O Flaherty Memorial Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty Biography|access-date=11 March 2023}}* [[Donie O'Sullivan (journalist)|Donie O'Sullivan]], journalist working for [[CNN]]
</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:Cahirciveen.jpg|Gate to Holy Well on New Street
File:Cahersiveen 2.jpg|Corner of Main Street and O'Connell Street
File:Cahersiveen 3 - Cahirciveen.jpg|O'Connell Street
File:Cahirsiveen West Main Street.jpg|West Main Street
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[List of towns and villages in the Republic of Ireland|List of towns and villages in Ireland]]
*[[Market Houses in the Republic of Ireland|Market Houses in Ireland]]

==References==
{{Commons category|Cahirciveen}}
{{Wikivoyage|Caherciveen}}
{{Reflist}}

{{County Kerry}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Towns and villages in County Kerry]]
[[Category:Iveragh Peninsula]]
[[Category:Cahersiveen]]