Kerry Plebiscite: second village in county seeks name change

The village of Newtownsandes near Listowel, Co Kerry, is to hold a plebiscite to shed the name of a notorious 19th-century landlord…

Gabriel Fitzmaurice at Newtownsandes post office: "It will be carried this time by a landslide".
Gabriel Fitzmaurice at Newtownsandes post office: "It will be carried this time by a landslide".

The village of Newtownsandes near Listowel, Co Kerry, is to hold a plebiscite to shed the name of a notorious 19th-century landlord. It will be the second attempt to change its name to Moyvane in recent years.

It will be the second plebiscite on a placename change in Co Kerry next year. The Gaeltacht town of An Daingean wants to include the anglicised Dingle in its official title.

Five years ago the Newtownsandes/Moyvane (meaning middle plain) plebiscite failed when not enough of the 868 eligible voters turned out. Plebiscites for name change require that over half the total electorate must vote for the change. This was not understood at the time and, although 407 of the 473 who turned out voted in favour, the attempt failed.

Poet and village school teacher Gabriel Fitzmaurice said yesterday he welcomed the plebiscite and predicted: "It will be carried this time by a landslide".

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Mr Fitzmaurice said there would not be the same mistake as five years ago. Nobody was trying to airbrush Newtownsandes from history, and the poll was not an anti-English exercise.

Confusion has long reigned over what to call the village. People from outside commonly referred to it as "Newtown". However, most villagers call it Moyvane, after a nearby townland. Prominent village structures display a variety of names - the post office is called Moyvane, the school is called Murhur and the creamery is known as Newtownsandes. Maps also display a variety of names.

Sinn Féin county councillor Robert Beasley proposed the plebiscite. People wanted to see Moyvane on the map, Mr Beasley said. Newtownsandes was called after "a notorious landlord" and a despised individual, he explained.

In 1939 Moyvane parish priest Fr Daniel O'Sullivan made a determined effort, including the holding of a local plebiscite, to have the name Moyvane replace that of Newtownsandes.

In 1984 council finger signs were changed to Moyvane, Cllr Beasley said.

The village website gives this account: "The origin of the name Newtownsandes itself is tempered with pain, as it was the village located on the lands of George Sandes when he was alive in the early 1880s. He was a notoriously cruel landlord and agent of another. Around 1886 after a forceful eviction of some of his tenants, the name of the village was changed to NewtownDillon after John Dillon (of the Land League). However, this didn't catch on and the name remained unchanged until 1916 when another name change was attempted - this time to NewtownClarke after the Easter Rising leader Thomas Clarke."

That name did not stick either. Moyvane is now commonly used.