Editing Portmagee

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2018}}
{{Infobox settlement
|name                   = Portmagee
|native_name            = {{Irish place name|An Caladh}}
|native_name_lang       = ga
|settlement_type        = Village
|image_skyline          = Portmagee.jpg
|image_caption          =
|pushpin_map            = Ireland
|pushpin_label_position = right
|pushpin_map_caption    = Location in Ireland
|subdivision_type       = Country
|subdivision_name       = [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]]
|subdivision_type1      = [[Provinces of Ireland|Province]]
|subdivision_name1      = [[Munster]]
|subdivision_type3      = [[Counties of Ireland|County]]
|subdivision_name3      = [[County Kerry]]
|established_title      = 
|established_date       = 
|unit_pref              = Metric
|area_footnotes         = 
|area_total_km2         = 
|population_as_of       = [[2016 census of Ireland|2022]]
|population_footnotes   = <ref name=cso2016>{{cite web | url = https://visual.cso.ie/?body=entity/ima/cop/2022&boundary=C04160V04929&guid=b56df238-4f15-43d9-bbc4-13a95247a941 | title = Sapmap Area: Settlements Portmagee | work = Census 2022 | publisher = [[Central Statistics Office (Ireland)|Central Statistics Office]] | access-date = 15 June 2022}}</ref>
|population             = 116
|population_density_km2 = auto
|timezone1              = [[West European Time|WET]] 
|utc_offset1            = +0
|timezone1_DST          = [[Irish Standard Time|IST]] ([[Western European Summer Time|WEST]]) 
|utc_offset1_DST        = -1
|coordinates            = {{coord|51.885604|-10.366116|dim:100000_region:IE|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
|elevation_footnotes    = 
|elevation_m            = 
|blank_name             = [[Irish grid reference system|Irish Grid Reference]]
|blank_info             = {{iem4ibx|V370730}}
|website                = 
|footnotes              = 
}}

'''Portmagee''' ({{Irish place name|An Caladh|the ferry}})<ref>{{cite web|title=An Caladh|url=http://www.logainm.ie/1165610.aspx|publisher=logainm.ie|access-date=8 December 2012}}</ref> is a village in [[County Kerry]], [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]]. The village is located on the [[Iveragh peninsula]] south of [[Valentia Island]] and is known locally as 'the ferry', in reference to its purpose as a crossing point to the island. Access to Valentia Island is now via the [[Maurice O'Neill (Irish republican)|Maurice O'Neill]] Memorial Bridge ([[R565 road (Ireland)|R565]] road) from Portmagee, which was built in 1970 and named in memory of a member of the IRA executed in 1942 for his part in the shooting dead of Detective George Mordaunt in Dublin.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.ie/regionals/kerryman/news/tg4-documentary-on-oneill-execution-27406582.html|title=TG4 documentary on O'Neill execution|last=Reidy|first=Marisa|date=27 April 2011|website=The Kerryman|access-date=9 January 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.ie/regionals/kerryman/lifestyle/the-unofficial-opening-of-valentia-bridge-30064718.html|title=The 'unofficial' opening of Valentia bridge|date=5 March 2014|website=The Kerryman|access-date=9 January 2018}}</ref>

==Name==
The name Portmagee (Port Magee and Magee's Port as it was formerly known) comes from Captain Theobald Magee, a notorious 18th-century [[smuggling|smuggler]].<ref name=IT8December />  Having served in the army of [[James II of England|King James]] as an officer, Magee 'retired' to a life of merchant shipping between France, Portugal and Ireland.<ref name=PORTRAIT1978>{{cite book|last=Pochin Mould|author-link=Daphne Pochin Mould|first=Daphne Desirée Charlotte|title=Valentia: portrait of an island|year=1978|publisher=Blackwater Press|pages=53|url=http://www.google.ie/search?tbm=bks&hl=en&q=%22Captain+Theobald+Magee%22&btnG=#hl=en&gs_nf=3&gs_rn=0&gs_ri=serp&ds=bo&pq=%22captain%20theobald%20magee%22&cp=58&gs_id=a0h&xhr=t&q=%22Captain%20Theobald%20Magee%20is%20thought%20to%20have%20been%20an%20officer%22&pf=p&tbo=d&tbm=bks&sclient=psy-ab&oq=%22Captain+Theobald+Magee+is+thought+to+have+been+an+officer%22&gs_l=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&fp=a664e060913b8b7f&bpcl=39650382&biw=1366&bih=549}}</ref> Thanks to the many inlets around the South West coast, his trade in contraband spirits, textiles and tea and tobacco was hard to police and therefore very profitable. He married Bridget Morgell,<ref name=PORTRAIT1978 /> the widow of a rich [[Dingle]] merchant and also the daughter of the then [[Dingle (Parliament of Ireland constituency)|representative for Dingle]], Thomas Crosbie. There is some suspicion that Magee's death in a [[Lisbon]] monastery was due to some exile imposed by Crosbie, an influential MP. However, his wife and sons continued the family business of smuggling.

==Tourism==
In December 2012, Portmagee was awarded the [[Fáilte Ireland]] National Tourism Town Award, the first town to be awarded the accolade.<ref name=IT8December>{{cite news|last=McGreevy|first=Ronan|title=Tiny Kerry fishing village nets State's first 'tourism town award'|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/1208/1224327654583.html|access-date=8 December 2012|newspaper=Irish Times|date=8 December 2012|author2=Anne Lucey}}</ref>

==Places of interest==
[[File:Portmagee (2).jpg|thumb|right|Portmagee Pier]]
[[File:Skellig Michael by Maureen (1).jpg|thumb|right|Great Skellig]]
The village serves as a departure point for tourists travelling to visit '[[Skellig Michael]]', an island off the coast featuring a 6th-century monastic settlement. Skellig Michael (from Sceilig Mhichíl in the Irish language, meaning Michael's rock), also known as Great Skellig, is a steep rocky island in the Atlantic Ocean about {{convert|9|mi|km|abbr=off}} from the coast of County Kerry. It is the larger of the two [[Skellig Islands]]. Probably founded in the 7th century, for 600 years, the island was a centre of monastic life for Irish Christian monks. The Gaelic monastery, which is situated almost at the summit of the 230-metre-high rock became a [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]] in 1996.<ref>{{cite book|last=Brockman|first=Norbert|title=Encyclopedia of Sacred Places, Volume 1|year=2011|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=9781598846546|pages=521|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JkSk4euA-TEC&q=%22Since+1996%2C+Skellig+Michael+has+been+on+the+UNESCO+World+Heritage+List%22&pg=PA521}}</ref>  It is one of Europe's better-known but least accessible monastic sites. Since the extreme remoteness of Skellig Michael has, until recently, discouraged visitors, the site is exceptionally well preserved. The very spartan conditions inside the monastery illustrate the ascetic lifestyle practiced by [[Celtic Christianity|early Irish Christians]]. The monks lived in stone [[Clochán|'beehive' huts]] (clochans), perched above nearly vertical cliff walls.

Another monastery, [[Illaunloughan]], is located in the Portmagee Channel north of the town.

South of the town are the popular Kerry Cliffs.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Nugent |first1=Patrick |title=Experience the Force: A guide to the Star Wars magic in Kerry |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/travel/ireland/experience-the-force-a-guide-to-the-star-wars-magic-in-kerry-1.3317637 |access-date=4 June 2024 |publisher=The Irish Times |date=9 December 2017}}</ref>

==Traditions==
The "Old Year" celebrations originated in 1727 when a ship's crew arrived in Portmagee from [[Nantes]] during a heavy winter storm three days after Christmas. Some days later, the locals heard a deafening screech emanating from the end of the pier. The locals tentatively gathered to watch, assuming it to be a [[Banshee]], but discovered the crew of the French ship carrying torches on a procession through the village. An old, ragged man was at the centre, wobbling up the street. He fell three times, mirroring Christ's walk at Calvary, and was helped by members of the procession.<ref>https://moorings.ie/unique-irish-new-year-tradition-old-year-celebrations-portmagee-county-kerry/</ref>

At exactly midnight, a shot rang out, and the old man fell for the final time. Silence fell until a newly dressed man clad in white and a top hat lept out of the darkness and the music started up playing livelier. The procession began once again as the new man shook hands and gave kisses to the locals. He then gave a speech explaining that the old man represented the year just gone by and the new man symbolised all that was new as the year began.<ref>https://www.skelligmichael.com/portmagee-new-year-eve-celebration-custom-the-old-year/</ref>

The tradition has been commemorated every year since in the village on New Year's Eve.

== Skellig Rangers ==
The local GAA team, [[Skellig Rangers GAA|Skellig Rangers]], was founded in 1895 (originally as Portmagee G.A.A, before adopting its present name in the 1930s), and plays at ''Pairc Chill Imeallach'' in Portmagee.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.skelligrangers.gaa.ie/club-hist|title=Club History|website=Skellig Rangers G.A.A.|access-date=7 September 2018}}</ref>

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

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Wikivoyage|Portmagee}}
{{Commons category|Portmagee}}
* [https://www.portmagee.ie/ Portmagee and Skelligs Coast Tourism Guide]
* [http://www.kerrycoco.ie/en/allservices/planning/localareaplans/localareaplans/lapsforthefaofcahersiveensneemwaterville/caherciveenfunctionalarealocalareaplan/thefile,7595,en.pdf Portmagee Local Area Plan]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20101229223338/http://portmagee.net/ Portmagee Info and Map]
* [http://www.abctales.com/story/charlie99/landing-mackerel-pier-head-portmagee Poem by Brendan O'Neill -  ''Landing Mackerel on the Pier Head at Portmagee'']

{{County Kerry}}

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