History of County Kerry, Ireland

The 600-strong Italian, Spanish and Irish papal invasion force of James Fitzmaurice Fitzgerald was besieged by the English forces and massacred.

KERRY, a maritime county of the province of MUNSTER, bounded on the east by the counties of Limerick and Cork, on the north by the estuary of the Shannon (which separates it from Clare), on the west by the Atlantic, and on the south by the same ocean and the county of Cork. It extends from 51° 40' to 52° 37' (North Lat.), and from 9° 8' to 10° 27' (West Lon.); and comprises an area, according to the Ordnance survey, of 1,148,720 acres, of which 581,189 acres are cultivated land, 552,862 are unprofitable bog and mountain, and 14,669 are under water. The population, in 1821, amounted to 216,185; and in 1831, to 263,126.

The inhabitants of this tract, according to Ptolemy's chart, were in his time designated Velabri or Vellibori; "Hibernicè," says Dr. O'Connor, "Siol Ebiru
i, obviously meaning Illiberi Iberiae." They are supposed to have been descended from the Iberi of Spain, to which their country lies opposite; but Camden derives their...

Ker'ry, a maritime county in the S.W. part of Ireland, in Munster, having N. the estuary of the Shannon. Are", 1852 square miles. Pop. 201,039, a large proportion of whom speak only the Irish tongue. Surface extremely wild, rugged, and mountainous. MacGillicuddy Rocks, the loftiest mountains in Ireland, are in this county. Coast. line deeply indented with bays, of which Tralee, Dingle, and Koninare are the chief. Dunmore Head, between the two former, is the most westerly land in Ireland. Principal rivers, the Feale, Maine, Laune or Lane, and Roughty Lakes comprise those of Killarney, Carra, and Currane. Soil mostly inferior, except in the central lowlands. where it is a rich loam, resting on limestone. Agriculture is 'y backward. Chief crops, potatoes, wheat, and barley. Numerous goats and small cattle are pastured in the mountains. Chief towns, Tralee (the capital), Killarney, Dingle, and Kenmare. The county sends two members to the House of Commons, and the borough of Traice one...