Cahersiveen


Cahersiveen — alternate spellings Cahirsiveen, Cahirciveen or Caherciveen — is a town in County Kerry, Ireland. As of the 2016 CSO census, the town had a population of 1,041.

Geography

Cahersiveen is situated on the slopes of Bentee, and on the lower course of the River Ferta. It is the principal settlement of the Iveragh Peninsula, lies near Valentia Island, and is connected to the Irish road network by the N70 road.

History

Cahersiveen was where the first shots of the Fenian Rising were fired in 1867.

Railway

Cahersiveen was from 1893 to 1960 served by the Cahersiveen railway station on the Great Southern and Western Railway.

Role in Literature

's novel "Post Captain" gives Cahersiveen as the location of the character Stephen Maturin's childhood home in Ireland.
The novel is part of the Aubrey-Maturin series of novels set during the Napoleonic wars. The story of visiting his home in Ireland is used by Stephen Maturin to cover espionage in France and Catalonia. The ruse is satirised when another character observes:

Religion

The Catholic church in the town is the only one in Ireland named after a layperson, Daniel O'Connell. It also contains a decommissioned Royal Irish Constabulary barracks, now a heritage centre, which according to legend, was built from the plans for a British barracks in India that got mixed up.

Education

The town's primary school, Scoil Saidbhín, was opened in September 2015. This school is an amalgamation of Scoil Mhuire, the boys' primary school and St Joseph's Convent, the girls' primary school. There are four primary schools in total in the parish of Cahersiveen, including schools in the town's hinterland: Aghatubrid National school, Coars National School, and Foilmore National School. The Aghatubrid school was established in 1964 and has approximately 90 students.
Coláiste Na Sceilge is the co-educational secondary school located in Cahersiveen. Over 530 pupils attend Coláiste Na Sceilge. Pupils from all around the Iveragh Peninsula attend the secondary school. An t-Aonad Lán-Ghaeilge is the local Gaelscoil - an all Irish-speaking class for 1st to 3rd-year students, where students do all their learning through Irish.

People