Ardfert
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Ardfert Ard Fhearta
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| Village | |
 Ardfert
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| Coordinates: 52°21′00″N 9°41′00″W / 52.35°N 9.6833°WCoordinates: 52°21′00″N 9°41′00″W / 52.35°N 9.6833°W | |
| Country | Ireland |
| Province | Munster |
| County | County Kerry |
| Elevation | 78 m (256 ft) |
| Population (2011) | |
| • Urban | 800 |
| Time zone | WET (UTC+0) |
| • Summer (DST) | IST (WEST) (UTC-1) |
| Irish Grid Reference | Q782211 |
Ardfert (Irish: Ard Fhearta, meaning "the hill of miracles") is a village in County Kerry, Ireland. Historically a religious centre, the economy of the locality is driven by agriculture and its position as a dormitory town, being only 8 km (5.0 mi) from Tralee. The population of the village increased by almost 10% between the 2006 recorded figure of 729 and the 2011 figure of 800.
The village's name signifies, according to Sir James Ware, "a wonderful place on an eminence", or as some interpret it, "the hill of miracles." Ardfert has also been considered a corruption of Ard Ert, "the high place of Ert or Erc", so called after the 5th century Irish Bishop Saint Erc, who made the place a bishop's seat.
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 the Normans came.
Ardfert is the home of St. Brendan's Ardfert Cathedral, which was destroyed in the War of 1641 (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 6th century, but both town and monastery were destroyed by fire in 1089, and again in 1151.
The Norman influence can still be seen not only in the architecture, but also in local families such as the Cantillons (Barons de Ballyheigue), and Fitzmaurices, and in place names, such as Ballintobeenig, a nearby townland below Mt. Crusline called after St. Aubin.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 bishopric until 1660.
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