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ARD
a corruption of Ard Ert, “the high place of Ert.” Mat-
thew Paris calls it Herifert, “the place of miracles of Hert
or Ert;” and in the Annals of Innisfallen it is mentioned
under the name of Hyferte, which denotes “the territory
of miracles, or of Ert.” It is thought to have been made
by St. Ert, in the fifth century, the seat of a bishop’s
see., which comprehended the northern part of the
county. St. Brendan erected a sumptuous monastery
here in the sixth century, which, with the town, was
destroyed by fire in 1089: it “was again reduced to
ashes by Cormac O’Culen, in 1151, and, with the town,
suffered a like fate in 1179, on which occasion it is
supposed to have been entirely demolished. In 1253,
Thomas, Lord of Kerry, founded a monastery for con-
ventual Franciscans, probably on the site of the former,
which was held in high estimation on account of
numerous miracles said to have been performed in it:
the founder and several other lords of Kerry, with many
of their respective families, were interred in this monas-
tery. A. leper-house was founded about 1312 by Nicholas
Fitz-Maurice, who also erected a castle, of which little
is recorded until the reign of Elizabeth, when the town
was destroyed by a party of the royal forces under
Maurice Stack, in 1599; and in the following year the
castle was besieged by Sir Charles Wilmot, and, after a
vigorous defence for nine days, was surrendered by the
garrison, on some small pieces of ordnance being brought
against it from an English vessel; the constable was
hanged, but the lives of the rest were spared. The
castle was rebuilt by Patrick, lord of Kerry, in 1637,
but was demolished by an Irish leader named Lawler,
in 1641, and there are now no remains. In the same
year the cathedral was also destroyed, and the south
transept was afterwards fitted up for divine service.
This is a declining town, without either trade or
manufacture, and presents only the appearance of a
village. The market, which was held on Thursday, was
granted, with a fair on the festival of St. Peter and St.
Paul and the following day, and a court of pie poudre
and the usual tolls, by letters patent bearing date July
6th, 10th of Jas. I. (1612), to Thomas, lord of Kerry,
then principal owner of the district. Fairs are held on
Whit-Monday, July 9th, and Aug. 15th. The collection
of tolls is not confined to sales made in the public fair;
every person selling in his own house, on the fair day, is
compelled to pay toll to the collector. A penny post from
Tralee has been lately established; and here is a station
of the constabulary police.
It has always been considered a borough by prescrip-
tion, there being no charter of incorporation on record.
The corporation, under the title of “The Portreeve,
Burgesses, and Freemen of the Borough of Ardfert, in
the county of Kerry,” consisted of a portreeve, twelve
burgesses, and an unlimited number of freemen. The
borough returned two members to the Irish parliament
in 1639, and continued to exercise the franchise till the
Union, when the £15,000 awarded as compensation for
the loss of that privilege was paid to the trustees of the
marriage settlement of the late Earl of Glandore: the
right of election was vested in the corporation. For
some years after the Union, corporate meetings took
place for the election of a portreeve and filling up va-
cancies among the burgesses, principally with a view to
preserve the corporate property in the commons from
encroachment; but the corporation was little more than
48
ARD
nominal, and its meetings have fallen into total disuse.
The borough extends towards the east and west a con-
siderable distance from the town, but on the south-west
a portion of the town itself is outside the limits, which
are not accurately defined: it is entirely within the
parish, and is said to include the Sheep Walk, Grague,
Killarane, Brandon Well, Kilquane, Laragh, Gortaspi-
dale, and the commons. The above grant of Jas. I., in
1612, conferred on Thomas, lord of Kerry, the privilege
of holding courts baron and courts leet, with other
manorial rights. The Earl of Listowel is now lord of
the manor, and appoints a seneschal, who holds, in
what was probably the old borough bridewell, a manor
court once in three weeks, for the trial of actions of debt
amounting to 40s. late currency, of which the jurisdic-
tion extends about 2½ miles round the town; all trials
are by jury, the jurors being summoned from the tenants
of the manor, who are bound by their leases to serve,
or are otherwise liable to a fine; but the business in
this court is decreasing, from the holding of petty ses-
sions in the town every alternate week, and of the
county quarter sessions before the assistant barrister at
Tralee. The only property now admitted to belong to
the corporation is the commons adjoining the town, com-
prising about 200 acres, and valued at £70 per annum,
on which the inhabitants exercise a right of commonage;
they were formerly very extensive, but encroachments
have been made from time to time, which have been a
source of constant disputes, and there are now on them
about 100 houses or cabins, valued with the land at
about £200 per annum; the occupants are free from
rent, and formerly escaped all county rates, but the
latter have of late been levied.
The DIOCESE of ARDFERT and AGHADOE consists of a
union of two ancient sees, which from time immemorial
have been incorporated. The see of Ardfert, or Ardart,
was anciently called Kiaragi or Kerrigia, also the bishop-
rick of Iar-Muan, or West Munster; and from history
and public records it appears that the bishops of Ardfert
were likewise denominated bishops of Kerry, which title
is still retained in the R. C. divisions. On the transla-
tion of Thomas Fulwar (the last bishop of Ardfert) to
Cashel, in 1660, this see was held in commendam with
that of Limerick, of which latter Edward Singe was in
that year consecrated bishop; and on his translation to
Cork, in 1663, Ardfert was permanently united to
Limerick, under the prelacy of Wm. Fuller. The ancient
diocese of Aghadoe can now only be traced in its arch-
deaconry, which is annexed to the chapter of Ardfert,
and in the remains of its ancient cathedral. The dio-
cese is one of the eleven constituting the ecclesiastical
province of Cashel, and comprehends the entire county
of Kerry and a small portion of that of Cork: it extends
about 66 British miles in length and 61 in breadth, and
comprises by estimation a superficial area of 676,450
plantation acres, of which 647,650 are in Kerry, and
28,800 in Cork. The chapter consists of the dean,
chancellor, treasurer, precentor, and archdeacon: there
are no prebendaries or vicars choral attached to the
cathedral; the only other endowed office is a minor
canonry, which does not exist in connection with any
other cathedral in Ireland, except that of St. Patrick,
Dublin. The see lands and gross annual revenue of the
diocese are included in the return for the diocese of
Limerick. Of the cathedral, dedicated to St. Brendan,