Farranfore
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Farranfore An Fearann Fuar |
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| Irish Grid Reference Q932036 |
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| Statistics | ||
| Province: | Munster | |
| County: | County Kerry | |
| Population () | ||
Farranfore (An Fearann Fuar in Irish, meaning "the cold land") is a village in County Kerry, Ireland. It lies on the N22 road approximately midway between Tralee (17 km) and Killarney (15km) and on the railway line connecting those two towns. Between 1893 and 1960, Farranfore railway station was known as Farranfore Junction, as it was the point where one boarded for the spectacular train ride to Valentia Harbour, which was the western-most railway in Europe.
Farranfore is notable in particular for its airport, known as Kerry Airport. The single runway at Farranfore saw intensive use when Ryanair mounted a boycott of Shannon International Airport (north of the River Shannon in County Clare) and routed its flights to and from Germany through Kerry Airport.
As of March 2006, Ryanair continues to fly from Farranfore to Stansted and Frankfurt-Hahn on a daily basis. In the wake of its disagreements with Cork Airport, it has announced that it will move its Liverpool service from Cork to Farranfore from June 2006. (This service started on 13th June 2006)
Aer Arann also flies from Farranfore airport; there are multiple daily flights to Dublin, and regular flights to Manchester and Lorient.
Also popular in Farranfore is the existence of a Pharmacy, Post Office and Supermarket all on the one premises. The business is run by the Ahern family who also live on the grounds.
Farranfore came into existence as a turnpike; a gate at the cross-roads in the village marked the boundary of the lands of the Earls of Kenmare.
The village is also home to the Fitzgerald family and their comically named son Gerald Fitzgerald
