Lixnaw is a village

Village

A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

 in North County Kerry

County Kerry

Kerry means the "people of Ciar" which was the name of the pre-Gaelic tribe who lived in part of the present county. The legendary founder of the tribe was Ciar, son of Fergus mac Róich. In Old Irish "Ciar" meant black or dark brown, and the word continues in use in modern Irish as an adjective...

, Ireland

Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

. It is located near the River Brick 11 km (6.8 mi) SW of Listowel and 17 km (10.6 mi) NE of Tralee.

History

Lixnaw was once the seat of the Earls of Kerry. In 1320 Nicolas, the third baron of Lixnaw, erected the Castle of Lixnaw, built the old bridge, and improved the village. In 1600 Sir Chas. Wilmot and his forces garrisoned the castle and established it as their centre of operations. It was subsequently re-taken by Lord Kerry who entrusted its defense to his brother Gerald, who was eventually forced to surrender the castle due to a shortage of water. Today, nothing remains of the Castle of Lixnaw. An interesting point about the Earls of Kerry is that one of the descendants, later Lord Lansdowne, who was born in Dublin but was largely reared in Lixnaw (except when he was in Eton), became British Prime Minister in 1782. Later Lansdowne Road was named after him and it became the common name for that great rugby stadium in Dublin.

Lixnaw is situated near the River Brick over which there were originally two stone bridges, from which the village got its name.

Places of interest

Korean War Memorial http://dublin.usembassy.gov/ireland/amb_korea.htmlhttp://www.hoganstand.com/general/identity/geese/stories/korean.htm Erected to honour the Irish soldiers who died in the Korean War

Korean War

The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...

. A total of twenty-nine Irishmen died while serving under conscription in the US Army under the banner of the UN from 1950-1953. The monument takes the form of a stone arch, 12 feet (3.7 m) high and 17 feet (5.2 m) wide with three granite slabs on which all 35 names, addresses and dates of death are inscribed. Due to the intricate layout of Lixnaw village, this memorial has proven to be very difficult to find, even for the locals.

St. Michael's Church is a Roman Catholic church designed by Irish architect J.J.McCarthy, but more Norman

Norman architecture

About|Romanesque architecture, primarily English|other buildings in Normandy|Architecture of Normandy.File:Durham Cathedral. Nave by James Valentine c.1890.jpg|thumb|200px|The nave of Durham Cathedral demonstrates the characteristic round arched style, though use of shallow pointed arches above the...

 than Celt

Celt

The Celts were a diverse group of tribal societies in Iron Age and Roman-era Europe who spoke Celtic languages.The earliest archaeological culture commonly accepted as Celtic, or rather Proto-Celtic, was the central European Hallstatt culture , named for the rich grave finds in Hallstatt, Austria....

ic in design, due to having to flank the nave with aisles that open off it through robust round arched arcades. Modernised interior.

St. Michael's Holy Well features a statue depicting St. Michael defeating Satan

Satan

Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...

.

Transport

Lixnaw railway station opened on 20 December 1880, closed for passenger traffic on 4 February 1963, closed for goods traffic on 2 December 1974 and finally closed altogether on 11 June 1983.

Sport

The local GAA

Gaelic Athletic Association

The Gaelic Athletic Association is an amateur Irish and international cultural and sporting organisation focused primarily on promoting Gaelic games, which include the traditional Irish sports of hurling, camogie, Gaelic football, handball and rounders...

 club, Lixnaw GAA

Lixnaw GAA

Lixnaw are a Gaelic Athletic Association hurling club in north County Kerry, Ireland. They play in the Kerry Senior Hurling Championship. The club is primarily concerned with the game of hurling but many of their players play football with Finuge. They have won 7 Kerry Senior Hurling...

, have won the Kerry Senior Hurling Championship on seven occasions. Well-known Lixnaw players include Paul Galvin

Paul Galvin (footballer)

Paul Galvin is an Irish sportsperson. He plays Gaelic football with his local club Finuge, his divisional side Feale Rangers and has been a member of the Kerry senior inter-county team since 2003. Galvin had the honour of being named as the 1000th All-Star.Galvin writes a weekly fashion column...

 and Éamonn Fitzmaurice

Éamonn Fitzmaurice

Éamonn Fitzmaurice is a former inter-county Gaelic footballer from County Kerry in Ireland. He is the first Lixnaw man to play senior championship for Kerry. He is currently the manager of the Kerry U-21 team...

.

See also

• List of towns and villages in Ireland