There are 32 locations in Kerry without sewerage treatment plants, writes Anne Lucey.

Caherdaniel, the home of the 19th century Liberator Daniel O’Connell, is also one of a number of coastal villages and towns without any public sewerage and waste water treatment.

An island off Cork has launched a bid to become one of the world’s few officially-recognised dark sky sites - areas dedicated to stargazing.

The Kerry Group Rás Mumhan 4-Day cycle race gets underway on the roads of Kerry and Limerick this morning with an increased profile following the cancellation of this year’s Rás Tailteann.

Abbey Island can be reached in just a few steps across the beach at Derrynane, Co Kerry.

The charming village of Portmagee, Co Kerry, is known as the gateway to the Skellig islands and it hosts tens of thousands of people annually who take the 45-minute boat trip to the Unesco world heritage site.

The Force is stretching.

I thought it was all over for trains and GAA supporters, and I thought I had the exact moment the romance had ended: when Cork decided to go by bus to Dublin.

Made famous by the Healy-Rae’s, it’s a lit like no other and similar to other counties.

The Kerry villages Ballyferriter, Portmagee, Ballinskelligs and Valentia Island are celebrating all things Star Wars this weekend with an abundance of Star Wars themed events.

Skellig Michael will remain closed to visitors for at least another three weeks, meaning the island made famous by Star Wars could be facing its shortest-ever tourist season.

Missing out on Ed Sheeran in Páirc Uí Chaoimh? Not to worry, Ciara McDonnell has plenty of options for the May bank holiday weekend.

Suitable land is being sought to provide a third car park in a Kerry harbour village, the main departure point for Skellig Michael, which features in Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

Fáilte Ireland says it cannot include an island ferry, felt to be crucial for tourism in the South-West, among major projects eligible for grant aid.

It was a location for Star Wars: The Last Jedi, so it’s no surprise that Kerry has been listed as one of the best star-gazing spots on the planet.

An extension of the visitor season and number of boats operating to world heritage site Skellig Michael have been firmly ruled out.

Lucasfilms/Star Wars is to be asked to contribute towards the provision of a public car park in the fishing village of Portmagee in south Kerry because of the influx of so many visitors

In 1977 we were introduced to Han Solo, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia for the first time. To mark 40 years of Star Wars, Greg Murphy took a trip to Skellig Michael (aka the planet Ahch-To), set to take centre stage again.

That the Cork footballers start 2017 as a second-tier county is moot. Trust is thin on the ground and it’s a long road back to a point where Rebel supporters will back their footballers, something manager Peadar Healy accepts and understands. There are no excuses next season, he says. The answers must come from within.

The area is a 30km drive off the famous Ring of Kerry and connects Valentia Island, Portmagee and The Skelligs themselves with Waterville and the beautiful Ballinskelligs.

The Skellig Ring — consisting of Skellig Michael, the 6th century precipitous monastic island off the coast of Kerry, its sister island the Little Skellig, and the coastal villages on the mainland — has been named among the top regions in the world for travellers in the influential Lonely Planet 2017 yearbook.

Landslides, flooded roads, and major bridges which were impassable for the first time in recent memory were recorded in Kerry after torrential rainfall in coastal and mountainous areas overnight on Monday and for most of yesterday.

Visitor numbers to Skellig Michael, the precipitous monastic island off the coast of Kerry which closed for the season yesterday, were up this year on the back of the success of Star Wars.

Prosecutions have been taken on behalf of the minister for transport, tourism and sport against three boatmen, alleged to have breached passenger boat regulations near the Skelligs in Kerry.

The Office of Public Works had issued a ban on all boats from landing on Skellig Michael until further notice or without express permission due to what are described as “extremely dangerous” conditions.

Damage to the main visitor path on Skellig Michael, the Unesco World Heritage island off Kerry, has been significant but will not delay the official visiting season which begins in May, according to the Office of Public Works.

Changes to what it claims is “an out of date” and “anti-competitive” ferrying system to the Unesco world heritage site of Skellig Michael, off the coast of Kerry, have been announced by the Office of Public Works.

Sad news for Irish Star Wars fans who were expecting to see Luke Skywalker back in Kerry this year for filming of Episode VIII, as new information suggests that we may have seen the last of the Jedi Knight on our shores for now. 

THE Force has awoken the world to Portmagee. 

Mike O’Shea, adventurer and owner of Work at Height, which looked after the logistics of getting cast, crew and equipment onto Skellig Michael, said: “We knew what they wanted us to know even though we were heavily involved but it’s a very secretive industry.

A remote rural parish famous for its copper mines is set to get wired for the future.

Kerry, Cork, and Waterford feature heavily in the shortlist for the best tourism towns in the country.

He’s battled Sith Lords, destroyed a Death Star, escaped the destruction of another, and restored freedom to a galaxy far, far away… but if the Jedi career ever falls through, Luke Skywalker can always rely on his pint-pulling skills to get by, thanks to the helpful staff of an extremely force-sensitive pub in Co Kerry.

The froth is strong with this one.

Locals of a small bar in Co Kerry got a great surprise yesterday evening as Luke Skywalker himself stopped by to pull a few pints and teach people in ’the ways of the Force’.

Filming for Star Wars: Episode VIII has begun on Skellig Michael with a break in the weather yesterday finally making it possible for the Disney Lucasfilm crew to access the island.