The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Open road is a great relief to Dingle
SIX months after it opened to traffic, the final stretch of the Dingle relief road was officially opened on Friday by Junior Minister Brendan Griffin who said nothing unexpected when he described it as a great benefit to the town.
That much was already known after a summer when the new road greatly helped alleviate town centre traffic congestion. Less well known is the name of the road and, if nothing else, the official opening provided a reminder that it is named Bothar Ridirí Chiarraí (Knights of Kerry Road). It’s not a name that trips easily off the tongue but it’s well chosen in terms of representing the auspicious history of the area through which it passes.
The name, which was suggested to Kerry County Council by Dingle Historical Society, is a reference to the castle of the Knights of Kerry that once stood in the Grove. The knights – Fitzgeralds – were associated with Dingle for over 500 years and built several castles in West Kerry, including Rahinnane, which was their principal abode. They also built a castle in the Grove and, according to archaeologist Lar Dunne, they brought a world of trouble down on Dingle when William Fitzgerald refused to open the door to his cousin and overlord the ‘Sugán’ Earl of Desmond James FitzThomas FitzGerald. In reprisal for this inhospitality Dingle was burned in 1600, for the fourth time in the space of 25 years.
However, the castle had more welcome guests at other times, including the Spanish ambassador who held negotiations there in advance of the signing of the Treaty of Dingle with the Earl of Desmond in 1529. The ambassador was greatly impressed by the welcome he received and later wrote that the food and drink, the women and the craic in Dingle was a lot better than anything Spain could offer.