Gneeveguilla, (/ɡniːvˈɡʊɪlə/ g-NEEV-guilla), officially Gneevgullia (Irish: Gníomh go Leith),[2] is a small village in the Sliabh Luachra region of East County Kerry, Ireland. It lies about 19 km (12 mi) east of Killarney, close to the County Kerry/County Cork border.
Gneeveguilla
Gníomh go Leith | |
---|---|
Village | |
![]() Church of the Holy Rosary | |
![]() ![]() Gneeveguilla Location in Ireland | |
Coordinates: 52°07′01″N 9°16′19″W | |
Country | Ireland |
Province | Munster |
County | County Kerry |
Population (2016)[1] | 256 |
Time zone | UTC+0 (WET) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-1 (IST (WEST)) |
Gneeveguilla is situated in a region of hills and valleys and serves a rural hinterland consisting of dairy farms, pastureland and peatland.[citation needed] Townlands in the area include Coom (Lower and Upper), Bawnard, Gullaun, Mausrower and Lisheen.[3] At Mausrower, there used to be a large quarry in the early part of the 20th century, the remnants of which can be seen today on the approach from the Killarney direction towards Lower Coom. Hence the junction at Lower Coom being known as the Quarry Cross.[citation needed]
In the 19th century Gneeveguilla was the scene of an event known as the 'Moving Bog'.[4] On the night of Sunday 28 December 1896, after a prolonged period of bad weather, sleeping families were awakened by an unusual sound. When daylight broke, to their horror they realised that over 200 acres (0.81 km2) of bogland was on the move in a southerly direction, taking everything before it. It followed the course of the Ownachree river into the river Flesk. The bog continued to move until New Year's Day and came to rest covering hundreds of acres of pastureland.[citation needed] The Moving Bog claimed the lives of 8 members of one local family.[4]
The Church of the Holy Rosary is a Roman Catholic church in Gneeveguilla opened on 10 October 1937. It is one of three churches in the Rathmore Parish of the Diocese of Kerry.[5]
Gneeveguilla National School (Irish: Scoil Naisiunta Gniomh Go Leith)[6] is a Catholic, co-educational school in the center of Gneevguilla, directly across from the GAA pitch and athletics center.
Several exponents of the 'Sliabh Luachra style' of traditional Irish music come from the Gneeveguilla area, including fiddler players Julia Clifford, Denis Murphy and Johnny and Paddy Cronin; and button accordion player Johnny O'Leary.[7][8][9]
There is a statue in the village in honour of the Sliabh Luachra seanchaí (storyteller) Éamon Kelly (1914–2001).[10]
Gneeveguilla is home to Gneeveguilla AC. Established in 1978, it has had success in both local Kerry Athletics and at national Level.[citation needed]
Gneeveguilla GAA is the local GAA club which plays in the East Kerry GAA division. Gneeveguilla is home to Ambrose O'Donovan, a former captain of the Kerry senior football team which won the 'Centenary All-Ireland' All-Ireland Senior Football Championship.[11] Gneeveguilla won the Kerry Intermediate Football Championship in 2010, beating Finuge in the final in Austin Stack park in Tralee. They then went on to win the Munster Championship and lost the All-Ireland semi-final to St.James of County Galway, after a period of extra time.[12]
In Kerry County Council's "South East Kerry Settlements Local Area Plan 2008-2015", a number of opportunities for the future development of Gneeveguilla were identified.[13] The plan recommended against scattered and ribbon development, as well as environmental and pedestrian safety improvements.
a tragic occurrence at Gneeveguilla, on the Cork/Kerry border, in the wet winter of 1896 resulted in eight deaths. [..] In what became known as the Moving Bog Disaster, quarry worker Con Donnelly, his wife, and six of their children were all swept away as they slept peacefully in their cottage
Kerry captain Ambrose O'Donovan raises 'Sam' in Centenary Year
St James (Galway) 0-12 / Gneeveguilla (Kerry) 0-10 (After extra-time)
Places in County Kerry | ||
---|---|---|
County town: Tralee | ||
Towns |
| ![]() |
Parishes, Villages and Townlands |
| |
Islands | ||
|