Board to be asked to consider renaming Kerry Airport after Daniel O'Connell
A portrait of Daniel O'Connell by Nicholas Crowley. Amid concern his anniversary in August will not be properly marked, Killarney councillor John O’Donoghue has pursued two separate motions calling for proper recognition.
The board of Kerry Airport is to be asked to rename the county’s international gateway as the "Daniel O’Connell Airport” to coincide with the 250th anniversary of The Liberator.
However the airport, which is strongly associated with the global company and brand name Kerry, has resisted previous attempts to have the airport called after other key Kerry men.
Born at Carhan, outside Cahersiveen in 1775, O’Connell is regarded as one of of the greatest Europeans of all time, supporting Catholic Emancipation as well as the abolition of slavery.
A lawyer by profession, he practiced in the southern circuit and the main courthouse in Tralee contains his portrait.
However, amid concern his anniversary in August will not be properly marked, Killarney councillor John O’Donoghue has pursued two separate motions calling for proper recognition.
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Seconded by Fine Gael councillor Angie Baily, this now includes exploring the possibility of naming Kerry Airport after Daniel O'Connell.
He said he has been contacted by a lot of people about the need to honour O’Connell.
“A suggestion that has repeatedly come up is the possibility of calling Kerry Airport after him,” Mr O’Donoghue said.
He said the Kerry brand is very important in itself but calling the airport after O’Connell would not be damaging to the county’s global identity among tourists.
Liverpool and Belfast airports are still widely referred to by their placenames, despite being named after local people.
“The airport would still, most likely, be called Kerry Airport in much the same way that Liverpool Airport is rarely called John Lennon Airport. People also say they are flying into Belfast Airport as opposed to George Best Airport,” he added.
Daniel O’Connell was the most significant Kerry and Irish person of all time, he said.
The Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media said it is responsible for coordinating "an appropriate cross-governmental approach to remember the significant historical events of the early years of the State, and other significant events and themes,”.
“The Department has engaged with Kerry County Council on the Daniel O’Connell anniversary and it is expected that further details will be available in the near future.”
Kerry Airport, which is now an international airport with links to London, Spain, Germany and France as well as Dublin, has long resisted calls to shed its important brand name which is associated strongly with global company Kerry Group.
There have been previous calls to rename it after other Kerry figures such as the Antarctic explorer Tom Crean from Annauscaul.
Anyone is free to write in with suggestions, and all suggestions are welcome, a board member told the .
