A second attempt is to be made to rid a north Kerry village of the name of a "notorious landlord".
Five years ago a plebiscite to rid the village and surrounding area of Moyvane of its dual name "Newtownsandes" failed, when not enough people turned out to vote. 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 the vast majority of those turned out voted in favour of the name change, the attempt failed.
Councillor Robert Beasley (Sinn Féin), who recently moved a motion requesting a new plebiscite, told a council meeting this week: "For the majority of people in Moyvane, when they hear the name Sandes, it sends shivers up their spine."
In the late 1890s, the landlord George Sandes carried out cruel evictions according to the village website which refers to him as "a tyrant" and even has a poem describing how he burns in hell.
"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," according to moyvane.com
Now, however, senior council official John D Flynn has said Newtownsandes refers to the wider electoral division. He has looked at maps dating to 1897. Up to 1979, the village was referred to as "Newtownsandes" but Ordnance Survey maps published since the 1980s refer to it as Moyvane. (It means middle plain).
Newtownsandes was retained only in the overall electoral division designation, which is made up of 18 townlands.
There was no provision under current legislation to change the name of an electoral division and he advised the council to approach Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government Dick Roche directly, asking him to change the name.
The council has now written to the Minister.