K E K K E K rous, or such fish as herring, pilchards, cod, hake, and ling so abundant. There is, however, a great want of boats, tackle, and nets, although the stations of Dingle and Kenmare are prosperous and well provided. Fine salmon are obtained in the rivers and in some of the larger lakes. The shellfish are large and abundant.
Railways. – A branch of the great southern and western line passes by Killarney to Tralee.
Administration. – The county comprises nine baronies, and contains eighty-five civil parishes and two parts of parishes, and 2682 townlands. There are six poor-law unions wholly within the county, viz., Cahirciveen, Dingle, Kenmare, Killarney, Listowel, and Tralee, and part of one, namely Glin, the remaining portion being in Limerick. The county includes one parliamentary borough, Tralee, which in 1831 had a population of 9664, the township of Killarney, and the towns of Dingle and Listowel. There are in the county twenty-four petty sessions districts and one part of a petty sessions district. Assizes are held at Tralee, and quarter sessions are held in the towns of Dingle, Kenmare, Killarney, Listowel, and Tralee. The county is within the Cork military district, and there is a barrack station at Tralee. The headquarters of the constabulary force is at Tralee, and subinspectors are stationed at Cahirciveen, Dingle, Kenmare, Killarney, and Listowel. Previous to the Union the county returned eight members to parliament, two for the county, and two for each of the boroughs of Tralee, Dingle, and Ardfert. At the Union the number was reduced to three, two for the county and one for the borough of Tralee.
Population. – At the census of 1659 the population of Kerry was 8390, of whom 7824 were Irish and 566 English. De Burgo esti mates it at 56,628 in 1760, and the census of 1821 gives it as 216,185. In 1841 it had increased to 294,095, but in 1851 had diminished to 238,619, in 1861 to 201,800, and in 1871 to 196,586. The increase to 200,448 in 1881, notwithstanding that Kerry has suffered severely from agricultural distress, is sufficiently accounted for by an increase in the number of the smaller class of holdings. The number of males in 1881 was 100,715, and of females 99,733. The annual rate of marriages in 1880 to every 1000 of estimated population was 2 4, of births 27 5, of deaths 17 5, and of emigration 26 4. The total number who emigrated from 1st May 1851 to 31st December 1880 was 121,826. The number of persons not of Irish birth in Kerry at the census of 1841 was 615, and in 1871 it was 1194. The number in 1871 who could speak Irish only was 1209, and the number who could speak Irish and English 69,959. The number of Roman Catholics in 1881 was 193,917, of Protestant Episcopalians 5767, of Presbyterians 224, of Methodists 271, and of all other persuasions 264.
History. – The county is said to have derived its name from Ciar, who, along with his tribe the Ciarraidhe, is stated to have inhabited about the beginning of the present era the territory lying between Tralee and the Shannon. That portion lying south of the Maine was at a later period included in the kingdom of Desmond. Kerry suffered frequently from invasions of the Danes in the 9th and 10th centuries, until they were finally overthrown at the battle of Clontarf in 1014. In 1172 Dermot MacCarthy, king of Cork and Desmond, made submission to Henry II. on certain conditions, but was nevertheless gradually compelled to retire within the limits of Kerry, which was made shire ground in 1210. An English adventurer Raymond le Gros received from this MacCarthy a large portion of the county round Lixnaw. Thomas, grandson of Raymond, and king's sheriff in the counties of Cork, Waterford, and Kerry, was in 1295 made lord chief-justice of Ireland. Of his two sons John the eldest was created earl of Kildare, and Maurice in 1329 became earl of Desmond, and with certain exceptions received all the royal liberties which the king had in the county of Kerry. After the attainder of Thomas, earl of Desmond, in 1467, his kinsmen took up arms against the English, until at last the king was glad to guarantee the earl's elder son the full possession of his father's privileges. In consequence, however, of the rebellion of Gerald the sixteenth earl, the estates of the Desmonds, 574,628 acres in extent, were in 1583 forfeited to the crown, and parcelled into manors and seignories of 12,000, 8000, 6000, and 4000 acres, which were divided among English noblemen and gentlemen. The Irish took advantage of the disturbed state of England at the time of the Puritan revolution to attempt the overthrow of the English rule in Kerry, and ultimately obtained possession of Tralee, but in 1652 the rebellion was completely subdued, and a large number of estates were afterwards confiscated.
Antiquities. – There are remains of a round tower at Aghadoe near Killarney, another, a small cell at Lough Currane, and a third, one of the finest and most perfect specimens of the round tower in Ireland, at Rattoo, not far from Ballybunion. On the summit of a hill to the north of Kenmare River is the remarkable stone fortress known as Staigue Fort. There are several stone cells in the principal Skellig island, where at one time there were monastic remains which have now been swept away by the sea. The principal groups of sepulchral stones are those on the summits of the Tomie mountains, a remarkable stone fort at Cahirciveen, a circle of stones with cromlech in the parish of Tuosist, and others with inscriptions near Dingle. The most notable monastic ruins are those of Innisfallen, founded by St Finian, a disciple of St Columba, and the fine remains of Muckross Abbey, founded by the Franciscans, but there are also monastic remains at Ardfert, Castlemaine, Derrynane, Kilcoleman, Lislaghtin, and O'Dorney. Among old ruined churches of interest may be mentioned those of Aghadoe, Kilcrohane, Lougli Currane, Derrynane, Kilmakilloge, and Muckross. The cathedral of Ardfert, founded probably in 1253, was partly destroyed during the Cromwellian wars, but was restored in 1831. Some interesting portions of the old building still remain. There are a large number of old feudal castles.
See Smith, Ancient and Present State of the Counties of Cork, Waterford, and Kerry, Dublin, 1746-56; Cusack, History of the Kingdom of Kerry, 1871.
KERTCH, the ancient Panticapæon, a seaport town of
Russia in the government of Taurida, situated at the eastern
extremity of the Crimea, on the Cimmerian Bosphorus
(Strait of Yenikale or Strait of Kertch). It is 133 miles
north-east of Simpheropol and 50 miles from Theodosia, in
45° 21 N. lat. and 36° 30 E. long. Like most towns
built by ancient Greek colonists, it occupies a beautiful
situation clustering round the foot and climbing the sides
of the hill (now named after Mithradates) on which stood
the ancient acropolis. In 1876 it contained twelve
churches (including one Catholic and one Armenian), two
synagogues, and a mosque, a local bank, two hospitals (one
at Yenikale), three prisons, two gymnasiums, and a "noble
maidens' institute." The church of John the Baptist,
which, according to an inscription, was founded in 717
A.D., presents a good example of the purely Byzantine
style of architecture. The church of Alexander Nevski
was formerly the famous Kertch museum of local anti
quities, founded in 1825. The more valuable objects were
afterwards removed to the Hermitage at St Petersburg,
and those which remained were wantonly scattered during
the English occupation of the town. The present
"museum" is a small collection in a private house.
Among the products of local industry are leather, tobacco,
cement, beer, aerated waters, lime, candles, and soap.
Fish-curing is carried on, and there are steam saw-mills
and flour-mills. Previous to the deepening of the Strait
of Yenikale so as to admit vessels drawing 17 feet of
water (1876), the harbour was visited by a large number
of vessels which now pass on to the Azoff ports. The
imports comprise coal, wines, olive oil, &c.; and grain,
fish, linseed, rapeseed, wool, and hides are exported. The
harbour was improved by dredging at the same time as
the strait. A promenade extends along the sea-wall, and
beyond the town lie public gardens. About 6 miles to
the north-east is the town and old Turkish fortress of
Yenikale, which is united with Kertch to form a separate
administrative circle or mayoralty, including, according to
the surveys of 1843-44, an area of 42,103 acres. In
1876 the population of Kertch, exclusive of the temporary
garrison of 13,745, amounted to 21,211.
The Greek colony of Panticapæon was founded about the middle of the 6th century B.C., by the people of Miletus. From about 438 B.C. till the conquest of this region by Mithradates the Great about 100 B.C., the town and territory formed the so-called kingdom of the Bosphorus, ruled over by an independent dynasty. Phanacer, the son of Mithradates, became the founder of a new line under the protection of the Romans, which continued to exist till the middle of the 4th century A.D., and extended their power over the maritime parts of the Tauris. After this time the town – which had already begun to be known as Bosphora or Bospora – passed into the hands of the Eastern empire, of the Khazars, and of various barbarian tribes. In 1318 the Tartars, who had come into possession in the previous century, ceded the town to the Genoese, who soon raised it into new importance as a commercial centre. They usually called the place Cerchio, by a corruption of the Russian name K'rtchcff (whence Kertch), which appears in the 11th century inscription of Tmutorokansk. Under the Turks, whose rule dates from the end of the 15th century, Kertch was a military port: and as such it plays a part in the Russo-Turkish wars. Captured by the Russians under Dolgorakoff in 1771, it was ceded to them along with Yenikale by the peace of Kertchuk-Kainardji, and it became a great centre of Russian naval activity. Its importance
