Castleisland

Castleisland, otherwise known as the Island Of Kerry. The colour of the red marble, for which this town is noted, is due to the natural infiltration of iron oxide. There is a ruined 13th century castle in the town and the 1,097ft Knights hill rises north of Castleisland.

Castleisland is situated in the valley of the River Maine, only six miles from Kerry International Airport (Farranfore).

Castleisland is a thriving market town with one of the widest main streets in Ireland. Once the power base of the formidable Earls of Desmond. Today their once foreboding castle inside a moat is an ivy-covered stump.

Close to Castleisland is a fossil cave system “Crag Cave”. The Caves, which were formed of limestone, display a colourful wonderland of Stalactites and Stalagmites. Over a million years old, there are about four km of caves although only 350 metres of these are open to the public.

The caves are open from March to November with tours available daily during this time. Crag cave is a great place to visit especially for the kids and on a rainy day.

A different kind of sport is readily available to the visitor at the ‘Visitor Farm and Shooting Ground’, which is proving extremely popular.

For the more active tourist, a new athletic track has recently been built in the town, which is unique to the county and boasts a landscaped walk along the River Maine for the less active individual!

Like all Kerry Towns, entertainment is very much to the front in Castleisland with the town really coming to life during its two annual festivals.

The first of these festivals is 'The Kerry Drama Festival' which is held annually during March. Later in the year during the month of September, the 'Padraig O’Keefe festival' is held. This is a traditional Music festival attracting traditional Music Players from far and wide all honouring Padraig O’Keefe, a fiddle player who came from the Sliabh Luachra region.

If you fancy a game of golf you won’t go far wrong knocking a round off at the new Castleisland Golf Club.

A new parkland course, built on 200 acres, with modern sand-based greens and tees. This excellent course is built to the highest championship standards, which allows the course to be played throughout the year.

Although a newly developed course, the architect skilfully utilises the mature wooded undulating terrain at his disposal to create a gem of a golf course.

The course has many challenging holes, taking advantage of the varying and unique nature of the site. While elevated and undulating the design has reduced to a minimum any difficulties in walking and playing the course.

Ask anyone in the town and you will be directed to the course.