Gneeveguilla is situated in a region of hills and valleys and serves a rural hinterland consisting of dairy farms, pastureland and peatland.[citation needed]Townlands in the area include Coom (Lower and Upper), Bawnard, Gullaun, Mausrower and Lisheen.[3] At Mausrower, there used to be a large quarry in the early part of the 20th century, the remnants of which can be seen today on the approach from the Killarney direction towards Lower Coom. Hence the junction at Lower Coom being known as the Quarry Cross.[citation needed]
In the 19th century Gneeveguilla was the scene of an event known as the 'Moving Bog'.[4] On the night of Sunday 28 December 1896, after a prolonged period of bad weather, sleeping families were awakened by an unusual sound. When daylight broke, to their horror they realised that over 200 acres (0.81 km2) of bogland was on the move in a southerly direction, taking everything before it. It followed the course of the Ownachree river into the river Flesk. The bog continued to move until New Year's Day and came to rest covering hundreds of acres of pastureland.[5] The Moving Bog claimed the lives of 8 members of one local family.[4]
The Church of the Holy Rosary is a Roman Catholic church in Gneeveguilla opened on 10 October 1937. It is one of three churches in the Rathmore Parish of the Diocese of Kerry.[6]
Gneeveguilla National School (Irish: Scoil Naisiunta Gniomh Go Leith)[7] is a Catholic, co-educational school in the center of Gneevguilla, directly across from the GAA pitch and athletics center.
Two smaller primary schools, in the hinterland, previously served the local populace. One of these, Tureencahill National School closed in 2014 due to insufficient student numbers.[8] The former school building now serves as a digital hub and centre for a local community group.[9]
Several exponents of the 'Sliabh Luachra style' of traditional Irish music come from the Gneeveguilla area, including fiddler players Julia Clifford, Denis Murphy and Johnny and Paddy Cronin; and button accordion player Johnny O'Leary.[10][11][12]
Statue of Eamon Kelly in Gneevguilla
There is a statue in the village in honour of the Sliabh Luachra seanchaí (storyteller) Éamon Kelly (1914–2001).[13]
Other local sports clubs include Gneeveguilla Athletics Club. Established in 1978, it has had success at local and national levels.[16] Quarry Park Rangers is a local association football (soccer) club. Founded in 1982, the club fields teams in the Kerry District Leagues. A previous soccer club, Gneeveguila FC, were crowned Premier B Champions in 1974.[17] Gneeveguilla's basketball club was founded in 2007.[18]
InKerry County Council's "South East Kerry Settlements Local Area Plan 2008–2015", a number of opportunities for the future development of Gneeveguilla were identified.[19] The plan recommended against scattered and ribbon development, as well as environmental and pedestrian safety improvements.
^ ab"Moving mountains — the dangers of our changing rainfall". irishexaminer.com. Irish Examiner. 28 August 2008. a tragic occurrence at Gneeveguilla, on the Cork/Kerry border, in the wet winter of 1896 resulted in eight deaths. [..] In what became known as the Moving Bog Disaster, quarry worker Con Donnelly, his wife, and six of their children were all swept away as they slept peacefully in their cottage
^Taylor, Henry James (9 January 1897). "The Lamentable Irish Bog Slide". No.1859 Vol. 72. THE PENNY ILLUSTRATED NEWSPAPER. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
^ ab"O'Donovan, Ambrose". hoganstand.com. 1993. Retrieved 8 March 2019. Kerry captain Ambrose O'Donovan raises 'Sam' in Centenary Year
^"Concannon edges St James through". independent.ie. Independent News & Media. 31 January 2011. St James (Galway) 0–12 / Gneeveguilla (Kerry) 0–10 (After extra-time)
