History of Killarney

="apple-converted-space"> was built on the lake shore in the late 15th century by local ruling clan the O'DonoghuesMor (Ross). Ownership of the castle changed hands during the Desmond Rebellions of the 1580s to the Mac Carty Mor.

Muckross Abbey was founded in 1448 as a Franciscan friary for the Observantine Franciscans by Donal McCarthy Mor. The abbey was burned down by Cromwellian forces under General Ludlow in 1654, and today remains a ruin.

Killarney was heavily involved in the Irish War of Independence. The town, and indeed the entire county, had strong republican ties, and skirmishes with the British forces happened on a regular basis. The Great Southern Hotel, (now renamed as the Malton Hotel) was for a while taken over by the British, both as an office and barracks, and to protect the neighbouring railway station. One notable event during the war was the