Tarbert, County Kerry

Infobox Irish Place
name = Tarbert
gaeilge = Tairbeart
motto =
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pin coords = left: 101px; top: 10px
north coord = 52.572386
west coord = 9.375114
irish grid = R065477
area =
elevation = 0m
province = Munster
county = County Kerry
town pop =
rural pop =
census yr =
web =
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Tarbert ("Tairbeart" in Irish, from an Old Norse term meaning "draw-boat", i.e. portage) is a village in the north of County Kerry, with woodland to the south and the Shannon estuary to the north. It lies on the N69 coast road that runs along the estuary from Limerick before turning inland at Tarbert towards Listowel, and has two schools Tarbert Primary and Tarbert Comprehensive.

Tarbert Island

The nearby island is linked to the mainland by a short isthmus – the site of the boat portage that gave its name to both the island and the town. There is a a car ferry service from the island to the town of Killimer, near Kilrush in Clare. This service, operated by [http://www.shannonferries.com Shannon Ferries Ltd] , provides a link between the N69 in Kerry and the N68 in Clare.

Also on the island is a small lighthouse and an ESB electricity plant with four oil-fired turbines and a capacity of 640MW. This plant, opened in 1969, was the site of an explosion in 2003 that killed two workers and seriously injured another. It is due to be de-commissioned in 2010, with the loss of 130 jobs.

Tarbert Lighthouse

Tarbert Lighthouse came into operation on March 31st 1834 cite web | url=http://www.cil.ie/flat_areaEQLlighthousesAMPLighthouseIDEQL23_entry.html | title=Commissioner for Irish Lights Website]

References

ee also

* Tarbert (disambiguation), for other places with the same name
* Tarbert (placename), for the derivation of the name
* County Kerry