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Tralee is the largest town in County Kerry, standing at the confluence of a number of small rivers and adjacent to an area of marshy ground at the head of Tralee Bay.
The site of modern Tralee was founded by the Normans during the 13 th century and formed the stronghold of the Earls of Desmond. During the successive centuries a Medieval castle and a Friary of the Dominican order were established in the town. However, Tralee was a hotbed of anti-English opposition, supporting the Desmond Rebellions against Elizabeth I. In retribution, the Medieval city was burned to the ground in 1580. Nevertheless, Tralee continued to play a central role in opposing rule from London, participating in the 1798 rebellion, commemorated by a statue of a pikeman in Denny’s Street. But it was during the turmoil of the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War between 1919 and 1923 that Tralee would gain its greatest notoriety. In November 1920 the Black and Tans, a British paramilitary organisation, besieged Tralee in revenge for the abduction and murder of two Royal Irish Constabulary policemen. All businesses in the city were closed down and food was prevented from entering the city for an entire week. Three local people were also shot dead. As a result of its long history of opposition to English rule little of the Medieval city remains. Indeed, much of modern Tralee is of 19 th century construction, with many of its prominent building symbolising the town’s struggle for Irish independence.
The wide Georgian boulevard of Derry Street was completed in 1826 and forms one of Tralee’s most defining landmarks. Tralee Courthouse, constructed in 1835, is another of the city’s most prominent buildings and features a monument of two cannons honouring Kerrymen who died during the CrimeanWar and the Indian Rebellion. But perhaps Tralee’s grandest and most symbolic building is the Ashe Memorial Hall, which stands at one end of Denny Street. Dedicated to the memory of Thomas Ashe, an officer in the Irish Volunteers during the 1916 Easter Rising, it symbolises above all else the key role Tralee has played in Ireland’s long and bloody struggle for Independence.
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