View source for Sneem

{{Short description|Village in County Kerry, Ireland}}
{{EngvarB|date=November 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox settlement
|name                   = Sneem
|native_name            = {{native name|ga|An tSnaidhm}}
|native_name_lang       = ga
|settlement_type        = Village
|image_skyline          = Sneem.jpg
|image_caption          = Looking east from the bridge
|pushpin_map            = Ireland
|pushpin_label_position = right
|pushpin_map_caption    = Location in Ireland
|subdivision_type       = Country
|subdivision_name       = Ireland
|subdivision_type1      = [[Provinces of Ireland|Province]]
|subdivision_name1      = [[Munster]]
|subdivision_type3      = [[Counties of Ireland|County]]
|subdivision_name3      = [[County Kerry]]
|established_title      =
|established_date       =
|unit_pref              = Metric
|area_footnotes         =
|area_total_km2         =
|population_as_of       = [[2022 census of Ireland|2022]]
|population_footnotes   = <ref name="census2022">{{cite web|url = https://visual.cso.ie/?body=entity/ima/cop/2022&boundary=C04160V04929&guid=2b53b33d-d6e2-4db2-a067-2f56433968c0 | publisher = Central Statistics Office | work = Census 2022 | title = Census Mapping - Towns: Sneem - Population Snapshot | date = April 2022 | access-date = 15 June 2024 }}</ref>
|population             = 386
|population_density_km2 = auto
|timezone1              = [[West European Time|WET]]
|utc_offset1            = +0
|timezone1_DST          = [[Irish Standard Time|IST]] ([[Western European Summer Time|WEST]])
|utc_offset1_DST        = +1
|coordinates            = {{coord|51.838376|-9.899797|dim:100000_region:IE|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
|elevation_footnotes    =
|elevation_m            =
|blank_name             = [[Irish grid reference system|Irish Grid Reference]]
|blank_info             = {{iem4ibx|V687670}}
|footnotes              =
}}
'''Sneem''' ({{Irish place name|An tSnaidhm}})<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.logainm.ie/23153.aspx | publisher = Irish Placenames Commission | website = logainm.ie | title = An tSnaidhm / Sneem | access-date = 25 November 2020 }}</ref> is a village situated on the [[Iveragh Peninsula]] (part of the [[Ring of Kerry]]), in [[County Kerry]], in the southwest of Ireland. It lies on the estuary of the River Sneem which expands here to [[Kenmare River|Kenmare Bay]]. The [[N70 road (Ireland)|N70 road]] runs through the town, which is approximately {{convert|22|km|0}} west of [[Kenmare]]. While the [[2022 census of Ireland|2022 census]] recorded a population of 386 people,<ref name="census2022"/> Sneem is located in a tourist area and the population increases during the summer months.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.independent.ie/regionals/kerryman/news/clock-is-ticking-sneem-is-waiting-for-news-of-new-gp-36013302.html | publisher = Independent News & Media | work = The Kerryman | title = Clock is ticking: Sneem is waiting for news of new GP | date = 12 August 2017 | accessdate = 10 August 2022 }}</ref>

==Name==
The Irish village name {{lang|ga|An tSnaidhm}} means "the knot" in English. Several explanations of the name have been offered:
*One is that a knot-like swirling is said to take place where the River Sneem meets the currents of [[Kenmare]] Bay in the estuary, just below the village.{{citation needed|date=March 2016}}
*Another notes that Sneem village comprises two squares, North and South. A bridge in the middle of the village, viewed from overhead, acts as a knot between the two squares.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Sneem : the knot in the ring|last=E.|first=Stoakley, T.|date=1986|publisher=Sneem Tourism Association|isbn=0951163000|edition= 2nd and enl.|location=Sneem, Co. Kerry|oclc=18192375}}</ref>
*A less common explanation is that Sneem is the knot in the scenic [[Ring of Kerry]].{{citation needed|date=March 2016}}

The English name is first recorded in [[Charles Smith (topographer)|Charles Smith]]'s ''The Antient and Present State of the county of Kerry'' (1750), while the spellings {{lang|ga|Snaiḋm}} and {{lang|ga|Snaiḋim}} appear in poems of the early 19th century by [[Tomás Rua Ó Súilleabháin]].<ref>https://www.ainm.ie/Bio.aspx?ID=1231&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.logainm.ie/en/23153|title=An tSnaidhm/Sneem|website=logainm.ie}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Sneem1.jpg|thumb|Bridge near village square]]

''[[A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland]]'', published by [[Samuel Lewis (publisher)|Samuel Lewis]] in 1837, states that at the time, Sneem consisted of a harbour, a collection of houses, a church, a chapel and a "constabulary police force".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Lewis|first=Samuel|title=A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland|publisher=S. Lewis and Co.|year=1837}}</ref>

Former French president [[Charles de Gaulle]] visited Sneem in May 1969, and a monument to him now stands in the village's North Square.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Lucey|first=Anne|date=2019-06-07|title=50th anniversary of visit by Charles de Gaulle to be marked in Co Kerry|url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-30929288.html|access-date=2020-11-25|website=Irish Examiner|language=en}}</ref>

A book, ''Sneem, The Knot in the Ring'', recounts the area's history.<ref name="book">{{cite book | last = Stoakley | first = T.E.
| title = Sneem: The Knot in the Ring | publisher = Sneem Tourism Association | date = 1986 | location = Sneem, Co. Kerry | isbn = 0-9511630-0-0 }}</ref> In 2000, a time capsule was buried in the centre of the town, to be opened in 2100.<ref name="timecapsule">{{cite web |url = http://photofrom.com/img50366.htm |title = To be opened in 2100 |access-date = 13 February 2007 |last = Cashin |first = Joe |date = 12 October 2005 |website = PhotoFrom.com |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070929055740/http://photofrom.com/img50366.htm |archive-date = 29 September 2007 |df = dmy-all }}</ref>

==Politics==
The village is in the South and West Kerry electoral area of [[Kerry County Council]], and the Dáil Éireann constituency of Kerry.

==Historic buildings and places==
===Derryquin castle===
[[Derryquin Castle]] was an 18th-century stone-built country house, now demolished, in the Parknasilla estate close to Sneem. Designed by local architect [[James Franklin Fuller]], the house comprised a three-storey main block with a four-storey octagonal tower rising through the centre and a two-storey, partly curved wing. The building was equipped with battlements and machicolations.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://archiseek.com/2012/derryquin-castle-sneem-county-kerry/#.UQAgM_L62gM|title = 1860s – Derryquin Castle, Sneem, Co. Kerry|publisher= Archiseek.com |access-date= 2013-01-23}}</ref>

===Rossdohan house===
Rossdohan House on Rossdohan Island was built c.1875-1881 by architect [[John Pollard Seddon]] for Dr. Samuel Thomas Heard, a surgeon who had recently retired from his role in [[British Raj]]-era India and bought the island. It was [[Destruction of Irish country houses (1919–1923)|burned down in 1922]] and a new house built on the site in 1946 by architect Michael John Scott in the [[Cape Dutch architecture|Dutch Cape]] style (resembling [[Groot Constantia]] in [[Cape Town]]). This second house was burnt down in 1955 and has remained a ruin since. Rossdohan Island and the remaining estate have a mixture of tree ferns and exotic plants still extant, many dating from the late 1800s.<ref>{{cite web| url= https://www.dia.ie/works/view/15037/building/CO.+KERRY%2C+ROSSDOHAN+HOUSE+%28SNEEM%29 | publisher= [[Dictionary of Irish Architects]] 1720 - 1940 | title= CO. KERRY, ROSSDOHAN HOUSE (SNEEM) |access-date= 2022-08-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url= https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/site/2162/rossdohan-house-dunkerron-south-kilcrohane-rossdohan-island | publisher= [[National Inventory of Architectural Heritage]]| title= Rossdohan House, Dunkerron South, Kilcrohane, Rossdohan Island |access-date= 2022-08-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url= https://www.archiseek.com/discussion/reply/re-dutch-billys-59/ | publisher= archiseek.com | title= Re: Re: 'Dutch Billys') |access-date= 2022-08-10}}</ref>

{{wide image|Sneem, County Kerry, Ireland.jpg|1000px|Bridge Street in Sneem}}

==People==
[[File:Irlanda - Sneem (Ring of Kerry) - St. Michael's Catholic Church e fiume Sneem.jpg|thumb|St. Michael's Catholic Church and river Sneem]]
* [[Steve Casey]], and his brothers Tom and Jim, were Irish athletes of the 1930s who competed in single scull rowing at the [[Charles River]] in Boston.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/heritage/the-dream-team-from-sneem-1.1526879|title=The Dream Team from Sneem|newspaper=The Irish Times|access-date=2018-06-25|language=en-US}}</ref> As well as being a rower, Steve Casey was both [[World Heavyweight Championship (National Wrestling Association)|NWA]] and AWA heavyweight wrestling champion of the world five times between 1938 and 1947. There is a statue commemorating him in the village.
* [[John Egan (Gaelic footballer)|John Egan]], [[Kerry county football team|Kerry Gaelic footballer]], played for [[Sneem GAA]]. He won six [[All-Ireland]] medals, four of which were consecutive, and five [[GAA All Stars Awards]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/death-of-kerry-legend-john-egan-aged-59-1.498084|title = Death of Kerry legend John Egan, aged 59| newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] }}</ref> Several years after his death in 2012, a life-size bronze statue of Egan was erected in Sneem's South Square.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sneem.ie/2017/09/12/john-egan-memorial/|title=John Egan Memorial|date=12 September 2017}}</ref>
* [[Ronan Hussey]], also a Sneem [[Gaelic football]]er, has been a member of the Kerry senior football panel.<ref>{{cite news |title=Sneem in shock after death of ¨fanatical football man¨ |url=https://www.independent.ie/regionals/kerry/news/sneem-in-shock-after-death-of-fanatical-football-man/27376669.html |access-date=6 June 2024 |agency=The Kerryman |publisher=Irish Independent |date=27 November 2007}}</ref>
* [[William Melville]], the first head of the British Secret Service, was born at nearby Direenaclaurig Cross.
* [[Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh]], former [[President of Ireland]], lived nearby before his death; his [[List of Irish state funerals|state funeral]] was held in Sneem in March 1978

==See also==

* [[List of towns and villages in the Republic of Ireland|List of towns and villages in Ireland]]
* [[Sneem Black Pudding]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.sneem.com/ Sneem.com – village web portal]
* [http://www.sneem.ie/ Sneem.ie – community website]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160419221202/http://tidytowns.ie/u_documents/The_Tidy_Towns_of_Ireland.pdf The Tidy Towns of Ireland "Celebrating 50 years"]

{{County Kerry}}
{{Tidy Towns (Ireland)}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Towns and villages in County Kerry]]
[[Category:Iveragh Peninsula]]