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Prehistoric Killarney
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Killarney's unique history began with the last Ice Age. A single ice sheet covered the entire region. As
it melted, it sculpted Killarney's magnificent peaks Carrantoohill, Crohane, Tomies, Torc, and
Mangerton. Pushing aside huge boulders and gravel, it created the winding passes of Moll's Gap and
the Gap of Dunloe. The retreating ice also formed dark, mysterious loughs. The Long Range (Upper
Lake, Muckross Lake, and Lough Leane), Lough Guitane, and the Devil's Punch Bowl are all glacial
remnants. On the humorous side, it left the geological joke Cnoc An Cappeen, "the rock with a hat",
just outside Kenmare.
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Erosion over long periods has continued to form other beauty spots. The Upper Lake, Muckross Lake,
and Lough Leane briefly combine at the Meeting of the Waters, creating a mass of small ripples before
parting again. Water draining from the Devil's Punch Bowl is responsible for the spectacular Torc
Waterfall, while mountain streams join and tumble down at O'Sullivan's Cascade. Time brought
climatic change and great plant growth as well. Although today Killarney has one of the few remaining
oak woods in Europe, the county was once covered with these mighty trees. With ample fresh water,
wood, and plentiful animal life, it was only a matter of time before man arrived .
The first residents of the Killarney area were the Bronze Age Beaker Folk, from around 2000
BC. They mined copper on Ross Island and also left the open-air temple at Lissyvigeen. The
Beaker Folk led a prosperous life with strong trade ties to the Continent. Beaten gold collars,
or lunula, have been found at Mangerton and were common exports at the time. Although
substantial finds of bronze weapons have been found in outlying areas, the Beaker Folk were
generally peaceful farmers. Beginning in 500 BC, successive waves of invaders culturally
changed the Killarney area. Pictish tribes from the north of Ireland were the first invaders.
They practised polyandry and had matrilineal succession. According to legend, the ruling
tribe in Killarney was descended from Queen Mebh's son Cair and was known as the
Ciarraige. It is from this name that 'Kerry' is derived. Despite conquering the Beaker Folk,
the Picts soon became subjects to the next invasion group for a number of centuries. The
Ciarraige then moved and rose again in the sixth century to rule all of North Kerry. It is
believed that St. Brendan the Navigator was desended from the Ciarraige.
In approximately 400 BC, the next wave came with the arrival of the Fir Bolg or Iverni. The
name Fir Bolg means, "bag men." One explanation often given for this name is that they
exported Irish earth to the Greeks to protect their cities from snakes. Expert stonemasons,
the Fir Bolg created the stone forts Staigue, Cahergall, and Leacanabuaile centuries later.
They also developed Ogham script, fine examples of which can be found near Killarney.
The O'Shea and O'Falvey names are traced to the Fir Bolg. These were a Celtic people, who
gave Ireland some of its richest legends. The tales of Cuchulainn, Deirdre, and Curoi are all
attributed to them; it is thought that the great Irish saga 'Tain' tells of the Fir Bolg's battles
with the next invasion group, the Gaels.
The Gaels - who later called themselves the Milesians - arrived in 100 BC. Although a
fierce, warring race, it still took them 500 years to dominate the other two groups and
eventually settle their power base around Killarney. From then on, Killarney rulers were
called Eoganacht Locha Lein. Centuries later both the O'Sullivan and O'Donoghue families
claimed Milesian descent.
New Stone Age, 3500BC: We can see
evidence of Cairns and Standing Stones
at V 865 898 and V 902 894.
 Iron Age, 600BC: Evidence of Ogham
Stones at V 969909 Norman Period 909
869
 Norman Period 1100-1500 AD: There is
visible evidence of castles and an abbey
at V 915 883 and V 895 935
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The earliest visible settlement on this ordinance
survey map is the standing stones at Tomies West.
Standing stones symbolised the burial of valuable
goods. Standing stones are usually difficult to date,
but pottery found underneath some in Atlantic
Europe connects them with the Beaker people. Beaker
People is the term for a widely scattered cultural
phenomenon of prehistoric western Europeans
starting in the late Neolithic or Chalcolithic era
running into the early Bronze Age. The term was
coined by John Abercromby, based on their
distinctive ergonomic pottery drinking vessels.
The map reader can see the presence of Ogham Stones in
Dunloe Lower. Ogham stones were invented in the Iron
Age. Ogham stones symbolised an Early Medieval alphabet
used primarily to write the Old Irish language, and the
Brythonic languages. Ogham is sometimes called the
"Celtic Tree Alphabet", based on a high medieval
Bríatharogam tradition of ascribing names of trees to the
individual letters. There are roughly 400 surviving ogham
inscriptions on stone monuments throughout Ireland and
western Britain; the bulk of them are in the south of Ireland,
in Counties Kerry, Cork and Waterford. The largest number
outside of Ireland is in Pembrokeshire in Wales. The
remainder are mostly in south-eastern Ireland, Scotland,
Orkney Isles, the Isle of Man, and England around the
Devon/Cornwall border. The vast majority of the
inscriptions consist of personal names.
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The Normans were the people who gave their name to
Normandy, a region in northern France. They were
descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory
and the native population of Frankish. Their identity
emerged initially in the first half of the 10th century, and
gradually evolved over succeeding centuries.
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They played a major political, military, and cultural role
in medieval Europe and even the Near East. They were
famed for their martial spirit and eventually for their
Christian piety. They quickly adopted the Romance
language of the land they settled, their dialect becoming
known as Norman or Norman-French.
The Normans had a profound effect on Irish culture and history after
their invasion at Bannow Bay in 1169. Initially the Normans
maintained a distinct culture and ethnicity. Yet, with time, they came
to be subsumed into Irish culture to the point that it has been said that
they became "more Irish than the Irish themselves." The Normans
settled mostly in an area in the east of Ireland, later known as the Pale,
and also built many fine castles and settlements, including Trim Castle
and Dublin Castle. Both cultures intermixed, borrowing from each
other's language, culture and outlook. Norman descendants today can
be recognised by their surnames. Names such as French, (De) Roche,
Redmond, D'Arcy and Leacy are particularly common in the southeast
of Ireland, especially in the southern part of County Wexford where
the first Norman settlements were established. Other Norman names
such as Furlong predominate there. Another common Norman-Irish
name was Morell (Murrell) derived from the French Norman name
Morel. Other names beginning with Fitz (from the Norman for son)
indicate Norman ancestry. These included Fitzgerald, FitzGibbons
(Gibbons) dynasty, and Fitzmaurice.