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Population centre

Ballyoughteragh

An Baile Uachtarach

Ballyoughteragh links the prehistoric occupation of Ferriter’s Cove with the birthplace of the scholar and manuscript collector Pádraig Feiritéar.

Watercolour and fine ink illustration of Ferriter's Cove and Doon Point, near Ballyoughteragh.
Illustration of Ferriter's Cove and the surviving castle wall on Doon Point, near Ballyoughteragh, based on a June 1998 photograph.
Recorded locationBallyoughteragh52.17865° N · 10.44679° WInteractive map supplied by OpenStreetMap.
Recorded place location · Logainm.ie

The name

bailetownland, town, homesteaduachtar upper, southern part

These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.

An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.

Recorded forms

  • An Baile Uachtarach · Irish · main form · validated name
  • Ballyoughteragh · English · main form

Place & story

Tools and food remains at Ferriter’s Cove

Excavations at nearby Ferriter's Cove resumed in 1992 after erosion threatened an area left unexamined in earlier seasons. Peter Woodman and M. O'Brien recorded five polished stone axes, cattle bones and a pit containing burnt stones, charcoal and mainly fish bones. Farther south they found burnt ground, shells and stone-working debris. These deposits document repeated coastal activity, with evidence for food preparation and the making or use of stone tools. [2]

People & connections

Pádraig Feiritéar’s birthplace

The Irish scholar Pádraig Feiritéar, also known as Patrick Ferriter, was born at Ballyoughteragh on 10 March 1856. Meidhbhín Ní Úrdail's research identifies his family background and traces his work collecting Irish texts in Corca Dhuibhne. Between 1889 and 1895 he travelled through the peninsula recording poems, songs and stories. His parents and brother Micil were among the people from whom he collected, making family knowledge part of a wider scholarly undertaking. [3]

An emigrant’s manuscript legacy

Ferriter left for the United States in 1895 and continued his manuscript work there. He lived first in the Boston area and later in New York, participating in Irish-language scholarship among emigrants. His collection of thirty-nine manuscripts eventually reached University College Dublin after his death in 1924. Eibhlín Ní Ógáin catalogued the collection, preserving a body of work whose origins included the oral and written culture of Ferriter's native west Kerry. [3]

Geographic information

Place type
Population centre
County
Kerry
Civil parish
Dunurlin
Coordinates
52.17865, -10.44679
Logainm ID
1393872 ↗

Sources & further reading

  1. Logainm.ie — Ballyoughteragh. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
  2. Ferriter’s Cove,Ballyoughteragh North,1992:100 · Peter Woodman and M.O’Brien,Department of Archaeology,University College Cork
  3. Patrick Ferriter(1856–1924):An Irish Scholar at Home and Abroad,American Journal of Irish Studies15(2019),164–194 · Meidhbhín Ní Úrdail; author manuscript,University College Dublin repository
  4. Ferriter's Cove and Doon Point, near Ballyoughteragh illustration: based on a Caislean an Fheirtearaigh by David Purchase. AI-assisted watercolour and ink adaptation; cream paper margins added, incidental clutter omitted and fine details simplified. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.