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Tralee
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"TRALEE, a borough, assize, sea-port, market and post-town, and a parish, in the barony of TRUGHENACKMY, county of KERRY, and province of MUNSTER; 58¼ miles (W. N. W.) from Cork, and 151 (S. W. by W.) from Dublin; containing 11,021 inhabitants, of which number 9568 are in the town. Its ancient name Traleigh, "The Strand of the Leigh," is derived from its situation near the point at which the river Leigh discharges itself into the broad sandy bay of Tralee.
The parish contains 4393½ staute acres, as applotted under the tithe act: it is intersected by the small rivers Ballymullen and Leigh, which unite just before they fall into the strait or haven at the western entrance of the town. The soil is in general of superior quality, and chiefly in tillage; the system of agriculture is gradually improving: it contains some mountain pasture and shallow bog. Limestone and black marble are found within its limits.
The living is a rectory, in the diocese of Ardfert and Aghadoe, and in the patronage of Sir Edw. Denny: the tithes amount to £408. 7. 7.
The church, which was enlarged in 1819 by a loan of £2450 from the late Board of First Fruits, and more recently by a fund raised by subscription and sale of the pews, is a large and and handsome structure with a square tower surmounted with pinnacles. In the R. C. divisions the parish is the head of a union or district, comprising also the greater part of the parishes of Annagh, Clogherbrien, and Ratass : the chapel is a spacious and hadsome edifice, the entrance to which from the High-street is through a fine avenue bordered with trees. A convent for nuns of the order of the Presentation, established about 12 years since, has a small chapel attached to it. There are places of worship for Calvinistic Independaents and Wesleyan Methodists."
[From A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland by Samuel Lewis (1837)]
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The main cemeteries for the town of Tralee are in the neighbouring civil parish of Ratass.
A transcription of the Heads of Household in Tralee Town in 1851/2 from Griffiths Valuation is on the Kerry Rootsweb site.
Valuation lists, which list landowners, have been microfilmed by the Family History Library of the Church of the Latter Day Saints.
The film numbers are:
Tralee Urban: FHL British Films 840798 - 840801
Doon: FHL British Film 840789
Tralee Rural: FHL British Film 840795
| Hope Chapel, Princes Quay, Independent Congregationalist |
| St John's New Cemetery, Brewery Road |
| Methodist Chapel, Denny Street |
The Church of Ireland church of Saint John was built on the site of the ancient parish church, in 1623. This church was rebuilt in 1819, enlarged in 1831, and is still in use. It stands in a burial ground in Ashe Street (formerly Nelson Street).
The Roman Catholic church, also dedicated to Saint John the Baptist, was built off Castle Street, and rebuilt in 1870. The contact details for the Parish of Saint John, Tralee are listed at the diocesan website.
The Dominican Priory of Holy Cross was established in AD 1243 by John of Callan, founder of the Kerry Geraldines. The priory had a large cemetary with the burials of many Fitzgeralds. The Priory was officially supressed in 1580, but continued to function until 1652, when it was completely destroyed. The site of the church and burial grounds was built over and there are no substantial remains. The Dominicans reestablished a church in Tralee in 1871, and this continues under the parish of Saint John.
A Presbyterian congregation was formed from Tralee's Scottish population in 1840. A church was built in Edward Street in 1846. By the 1870s the majority of the members were Irish. The church was closed and sold in 1971 and the Presbyterians were merged with the Methodists. The church was demolished in 1974.
The Wesleyan Methodists established a chapel off Denny Street in 1829, relocated to Listowel Road in 1947. The Methodist and Presbyterian congregations merged in 1971, using the Listowel Road church until 1976 when Non-Conformist services in Tralee ended. The church is now a furniture warehouse.
The Church of Ireland registers begin in 1771
The registers are in local custody.
- Baptisms 1771-1797, 1807-1811.
The Roman Catholic registers for Baptisms start in 1772 and Marriages in 1774. The registers remain in the custody of the parish priest, although microfilm copies are at the National Archives of Ireland. Written permission from the Bishop of Kerry is required to view these records.
The Presbyterian registers begin in 1840, and are said to remain in "Local Custody", although there is now no Presbyterian congregation in County Kerry.
The Wesleyan registers have not survived.
From 1863 Tralee was in the Tralee Superintendant Registrar's District, and the Registrar's District of Tralee No.1. See the Registration Districts page.
The civil parish of Tralee forms part of Tralee Superintendent Registrar's District. All but two townlands are part of Tralee No.1 Registrar's District. Cloonalour and Shanakill are part of Tralee No.1 Registrar's District.
Civil records can be searched on the Irish government's Irish Genealogy website. Births less than 100 years ago, marriages less than 75 years ago and deaths less than 50 years ago are not listed on the site. Indexes can be searched and copies obtained for a fee at the General Register Office Search Room in Dublin.
- John Hayes has scanned
- Pigot's Provincial Directory Of Ireland 1824
- Slater's Commercial Directory of Ireland 1846
The pages have been scanned as PDF documents,for which the free Adobe Acrobat Reader is needed.
The transcription of the section for this parish from the National Gazetteer (1868), provided by Colin Hinson.
- Ask for a calculation of the distance from Tralee to another place.
A Map showing the Townlands of Tralee from the Kerry Rootsweb site.
View a map of the boundaries of this town/parish.
You can see maps centred on OSI grid reference Q8423316652 (Lat/Lon: 52.289801, -9.697358), Tralee which are provided by:
- OpenStreetMap
- Google Maps
- Bing (was Multimap)
- Copy
Traleeand paste it along with the county name into the search box at Ordnance Survey Ireland. - GeoHack (Links to on-line maps and location specific services.)
- All places within the same township/parish shown on an Openstreetmap map.
- Nearby townships/parishes shown on an Openstreetmap map.
- Nearby places shown on an Openstreetmap map.