County Kerry - History

History

Historical population
Year Pop. ±%
1653 12,172
1659 8,390 −31.1%
1821 216,185 +2476.7%
1831 263,126 +21.7%
1841 293,880 +11.7%
1851 238,254 −18.9%
1861 201,800 −15.3%
1871 196,586 −2.6%
1881 201,039 +2.3%
1891 179,136 −10.9%
1901 165,726 −7.5%
1911 159,691 −3.6%
1926 149,171 −6.6%
1936 139,834 −6.3%
1946 133,893 −4.2%
1951 126,644 −5.4%
1956 122,072 −3.6%
1961 116,458 −4.6%
1966 112,785 −3.2%
1971 112,772 −0.0%
1979 120,356 +6.7%
1981 122,770 +2.0%
1986 124,159 +1.1%
1991 121,894 −1.8%
1996 126,130 +3.5%
2002 132,527 +5.1%
2006 139,835 +5.5%
2011 145,502 +4.1%

Kerry (Irish: Ciarraí or more anciently Ciarraighe) means the "people of Ciar" which was the name of the pre-Gaelic tribe who lived in part of the present county. The legendary founder of the tribe was Ciar, son of Fergus mac Róich. In Old Irish "Ciar" meant black or dark brown, and the word continues in use in modern Irish as an adjective describing a dark complexion. The suffix raighe, meaning people/tribe, is found in various -ry place names in Ireland, such as OsryOsraighe Deer-People/Tribe. The county's nickname is the Kingdom.

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