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About Kenmare

Heritage

Neidín, the little nest

A planned 17th-century town at the head of Kenmare Bay, where the Ring of Kerry meets the Ring of Beara.

The name

Kenmare's Irish name is Neidín, "the little nest". The English name comes from Ceann Mara, "head of the sea", for the town's place at the head of Kenmare Bay. Kenmare is a designated Heritage Town on the Ring of Kerry and the Ring of Beara, with the Dunkerron Mountains to the north and the Caha Mountains across the bay.

Kenmare in numbers

2,566
People living in the town (2022 census)
c. 1670
Sir William Petty lays out the town
1861
The Poor Clare sisters arrive and found the convent
2000
Overall Tidy Towns winner; Tidiest Small Town in 2013

A planned town

After the Down Survey, which he completed in 1656, Sir William Petty was granted about 30,000 acres around Kenmare and laid out the modern town around 1670. He also set up an ironworks and a fishery. The streets carry the names of his descendants, the Earls of Shelburne and Marquesses of Lansdowne: Shelbourne Street after Henry Petty, Earl of Shelburne, and the former William Street, now Main Street, after the 1st Marquess of Lansdowne. The Market House was designed by Sir Charles Barry, architect of the Palace of Westminster.

Kenmare lace

Five Poor Clare nuns came to Kenmare from Newry in 1861. From 1864, under Mother Abbess O'Hagan, the convent began making needlepoint lace to give local girls paid work, and Kenmare lace became known around the world. One of the founding sisters, Mary Frances Cusack, became famous as "the Nun of Kenmare" for her writing and famine-relief fundraising. Pobalscoil Inbhear Scéine has stood on the convent site since 2001.

Heritage trail

A signed walk of about 1.5 km through the town centre, created by Kenmare Tidy Towns with Kerry County Council. Allow 30 to 45 minutes.
  1. 1

    Holy Cross Church

    Consecrated in 1864, with notable stained glass and an organ of 1865. Archdeacon John O'Sullivan, who oversaw its building, is buried here.

  2. 2

    Poor Clare Convent

    Home of the sisters who started Kenmare lace in the 1860s; the school now on the site opened in 2001.

  3. 3

    Lansdowne Arms

    The town's historic hotel, named after the Lansdowne family who owned the estate.

  4. 4

    Old Market House

    Designed by Sir Charles Barry, architect of the Palace of Westminster.

  5. 5

    Kenmare Stone Circle

    A Bronze Age ring of 15 stones around a central boulder dolmen, one of the largest in south-west Ireland.

    Directions →
  6. 6

    Cromwell's Bridge

    A single-arch bridge over the Finnihy River, built around 1700. Despite the name, it has no known link to Cromwell; the name probably comes from Irish words describing a bridge without parapets.

  7. 7

    Reenagross Woodland Park

    Woodland paths on a small peninsula at the edge of town, beside the bay.

    Directions →
  8. 8

    The bridges over the Kenmare River

    A suspension bridge opened here in 1841, said to be the first in Ireland; a concrete bridge replaced it in 1932.

Kenmare Heritage Centre

Opened in 1994 by President Mary Robinson, the centre tells the stories of Kenmare lace, the Nun of Kenmare, the Famine and the town's landlords.

People of Kenmare

Notable People of Kenmare

Meet the people whose lives are woven into Kenmare.

Meet them