Killarney

Cill Airne

Town

St Mary's Cathedral

Coat of arms

Killarney

Location in Ireland

Coordinates: 52°03′32″N 9°30′26″W / 52.0588°N 9.5072°WCoordinates: 52°03′32″N 9°30′26″W / 52.0588°N 9.5072°W

Elevation

50 m (160 ft)

Population (2011)

• Town

14,219

• Urban

12,740

• Rural

1,479

Irish Grid Reference

V969909

Website

www.killarney.ie

Killarney (Irish: Cill Airne, meaning "church of sloes"; pronounced [ˈcɪl̠ʲ ˈaːɾˠnʲə]) is a town in County Kerry, southwestern Ireland. The town is on the northeastern shore of Lough Leane, part of Killarney National Park, and is home to St Mary's Cathedral, Ross Castle, Muckross House and Abbey, the Lakes of Killarney, MacGillycuddy's Reeks, Purple Mountain, Mangerton Mountain, the Gap of Dunloe and Torc Waterfall. Its natural heritage, history and location on the Ring of Kerry make Killarney a popular tourist destination.

Killarney won the Best Kept Town award in 2007, in a cross-border competition jointly organised by the Department of the Environment and the Northern Ireland Amenity Council. In 2011, it was named Ireland's tidiest town and the cleanest town in the country by Irish Business Against Litter.

Killarney has featured prominently in early Irish history, with religious settlements playing an important part of its recorded history. Its first significantly historical settlement was the monastery on nearby Innisfallen Island founded in 640 by St. Finian the Leper, which was occupied for approximately 850 years.

Innisfallen or Inishfallen (from Irish: Inis Faithlinn, meaning "Faithlinn's island")[1] is an island in Lough Leane; one of the three Lakes of Killarney in County Kerry, Ireland. It is home to the ruins of Innisfallen Abbey, one of the most impressive archaeological remains dating from the early Christian period found in the Killarney National Park. The monastery was founded in 640 by St. Finian the Leper, and was occupied for approximately 850 years. Over a period of about 300 of these, the monks wrote the Annals of Innisfallen, which chronicle the early history of Ireland as it was known to the monks. The monks were dispossessed of the abbey on 18 August 1594, by Elizabeth I.

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Wikipedia