Heritage · Iveragh Peninsula

An tSnaidhm

The Knot — a village of two squares tied together by a stone bridge on the River Sneem, on the Ring of Kerry.

At a glance

An tSnaidhm: Irish name — "the knot"
Iveragh: Peninsula on the Ring of Kerry
N70: Road, 22 km west of Kenmare
Estuary: Setting of River Sneem into Kenmare Bay
386: Population (2022)
Co. Kerry: County, Munster

Three stories for one knot

The Irish name An tSnaidhm means "the knot". Which knot? Locals will offer at least three answers.

The river knot

Where the Sneem River meets the tides of Kenmare Bay, the currents twist into a knot-like swirl just below the village.

The bridge between squares

Sneem is two villages in one — North Square and South Square — tied together by the stone bridge. From above it reads like a knot.

The knot in the Ring

Sneem is the knot in the scenic Ring of Kerry itself, holding the loop together halfway round.

From a harbour and a chapel to a village on the Ring

Samuel Lewis's A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837) records Sneem as a harbour, a cluster of houses, a church, a chapel and a small constabulary force. In May 1969, former French president Charles de Gaulle retreated to Sneem for a fortnight of walking and quiet after resigning the presidency. A monument to his visit stands today in the North Square. T.E. Stoakley's book Sneem: The Knot in the Ring (1986) remains the standard account of the parish's history. In the year 2000 a time capsule was buried in the centre of the village, sealed to be opened in 2100.

Historic buildings & places

Ruined castles, exotic gardens

Derryquin Castle

An 18th-century stone country house on the Parknasilla estate, designed by James Franklin Fuller. Now demolished; only fragments remain.

Rossdohan House

Built c.1875–1881. Heard's original planting — tree ferns and subtropical exotics — is still growing on the island and is the ancestor of Kerry's coastal gardens.

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