Abbeydorney

Abbeydorney Irish: Mainistir Ó dTorna
County Kerry
Kyrie Eleison Abbey
Location
Grid reference:	Q853233
Data
Population:	418  (2016)
Local Government

Abbeydorney is a village in County Kerry, five and a half miles north of the county town, Tralee. The village had a population of 418 as of the 2016 census.

The name of the village id from the Abbey which once stood here, and the local clan, so that in the Irish language it is given the name Mainistir Ó dTorna, meaning 'Monastery of the clan of Torna'.

The village has a school, a community centre, two restaurants, a gym, a GAA Complex that also contains a pub and a play-park.

History

Main article: Abbeydorney Abbey

The abbey which gave the village its name was a Cistercian monastery, Abbeydorney Abbey, established in 1154 and located north of the village. The abbey is often called Kyrie Eleison (which is Greek for Lord, have mercy). It was suppressed in 1537 during the reign of King Henry VIII.

The village that developed around the abbey is of an agrarian nature and the institutions that have developed reflect this. In 1885, Abbeydorney Gaelic Athletic Association club was established, and in 1895 Abbeydorney Agricultural cooperative|Co-operative Dairy Society was formed. In 1920, during the Irish War, the village creamery and a number of houses were burned to the ground by RIC Auxiliaries and Black and Tans in a reprisal attack.

Abbeydorney railway station serving the village opened on 20 December 1880 on the line from Tralee to Limerick via Listowel. Passenger services were withdrawn on 4 February 1963, although the route through Abbeydorney continued to be used by freight trains for a while before the line to Listowel was finally closed altogether in 1977 and then to Tralee 1978. The station closed on 6 February 1978.