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5:00pm - May 9th, 2008
History
The sleepy
village of Moyvane has quite an interesting past, from it's present
day Sporting Triumps all the way back to its troubled times in dealing
with the old Landlords during the Land wars of the late 1800's.
While the parish was part of the ancient "Barony
of Iraghticonnor", it seldom featured in the history books
in conjunction with the stories of the Barony, hence very little writing
exists about the village's pastlife from long ago.
In the near Future, we hope to comment on Moyvane's journey through
time as it nestled between the undulating plains of North-East Kerry
and the hilly uplands of West Limerick. We will make known the
achievements of Moyvane's present day heroes and we will also tell
stories of the people who have left us for the next life, but who
still remain strong in our memories.
The name
of "Moyvane", which in Irish is "Maigh
Mheain" meaning "the Middle Plain",
was adopted by the village in 1939 when a plebiscite was held by "Father
O'Sullivan", who was the Parish Priest at the time.
It is the name of a townland situated about 2 miles South-West of
the actual village itself and this area truly resembles a flat plain/prairie-like
landscape that extended for miles around. To this day, the official
"Moyvane House" is located in the
heart of this area.
Prior to 1939, the village had been called "NewtownSandes"
and is even still referred to, by natives, as "Newtown"
- which is especially true of the older generation. And it should
be noted that the present-day Moyvane Creamery still bears the name:
"Newtownsandes Co-op" and is also
one of the very few remaining Independent Co-operative Creameries
left in Kerry.
The origin of the name "NewtownSandes"
itself is tempered with pain as it was the village located on the
lands of "George Sandes" when he was
alive in the early 1880's. He was a notoriously cruel Landlord
(and agent of another) at that time and still tenaciously held on
to his estates towards the end of the Land War when most of his peers
had already given up theirs.
Around 1886, after a forceful eviction of some of his tenants, the
name of the village was changed to "NewtownDillon"
after "John Dillon". However, this
didn't stick and the name remained unchanged until 1916 when another
name-change was attempted: this time to "NewtownClarke"
after the 1916 Easter Rising leader "Thomas Clarke".
However, the parishoners didn't hold on to this name either and the
sullied name of "NewtownSandes" remained
till 1939.
It may
be interesting to note that up until a few years ago, the official
name which appeared on the ordinance survey maps - especially those
of the 1980's - was that of the original "NewtownSandes".
There are many anecdotes that tell of visitors in search of "Moyvane".
They took endless road-turnoffs and even traversed the village itself
many times. Signposts to "NewtownSandes"
had indeed led them to the village of "Moyvane"!
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