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Revision as of 20:13, 19 June 2006 by Jtdirl (talk | contribs) (Most common name rule)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Template:Infobox Irish Place Ballyferriter (Irish language:Baile an Fheirtéaraigh) is a village in County Kerry, Ireland. It is located in the west Kerry Gaeltacht and, according to the 2002 census, about 75% of the town's population speaks the language on a daily basis. The village is named after the Norman-Irish Feiritéar family who settled in Ard na Caithne in the late medieval period and of whom the seventeenth century poet and executed leader, Piaras Feiritéar, remains the most famous member.
The village lies at the base of Croaghmarhin hill near Cuan Ard na Caithne (formerly called Smerwick harbour) on the Dingle Peninsula, on regional road R559 which loops around the west of the peninsula, beginning and ending in Dingle Town. It has three pubs: Tigh Uí Chatháin, Tigh Uí Mhurchú, Tigh an t-Saorsáigh, and one hotel, Óstán Cheann Sibéal (formerly Tigh Peig's). It also has a school, shop, church, museum, post office and a Garda station. The village is alive with Irish students throughout the summer as courses are held in the local national school, with UCC owning a house there that facilitates year-long study for students at a higher level.
Near Ballyferriter is Dún an Óir ("The Fort of Gold"), an Iron Age promontory fort, which was the scene of an infamous massacre in 1580 when it was once again used as a defensive position by James Fitzmaurice who stationed 600 Italian and Spanish soldiers there under the command of Sebastiano di San Giuseppe of Bologna. The Lord Deputy of Ireland, Arthur Grey, 14th Baron Grey de Wilton, marched on the fort with 800 English soldiers and massacred the 600 Irish, Italian and Spanish occupants when they surrendered at the end of a three-day siege.
Under a placennames order in 2004, the Minister for the Gaeltacht, Éamon Ó Cuiv declared that on maps and signage the Irish name, Baile an Fheirtéaraigh, must be used.
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