Marking town charter ‘like Indians celebrating Columbus’

A celebration of Tralee’s 400th anniversary of its charter, granted by an English king, has gone unmarked.

A Sinn Féin councillor claimed that “celebrating it would be akin to the native American Indians celebrating the arrival of Columbus”.

The charter permitted the Kerry capital town to elect a mayor or provost when it become an official town under James I.

However, Fine Gael has proposed some recognition of the historical event should proceed “as soon as possible”.

The anniversary took place midweek but was not acknowledged by the local authority.

The charter was granted to the New English in the town, which had been confiscated from the fam-ily of the Earl of Desmond, who was killed in 1583.

It had been the capital of the earl and his seat, Tralee Castle, was occupied by the Denny family for the following 300 years.

Tralee councillor Cathal Foley (SF) reacted after Radio Kerry mentioned the anniversary following a newspaper report.

It was, he said, “akin to the native American Indians celebrating the arrival of Columbus”. The Dennys were responsible for atrocities in West Kerry and elsewhere. Cllr Foley said the event should not be told from one side.

“The charter wasn’t granted out of benevolence,” he said.

Its main provision was to allow taxes to be collected from the poor and to allow the Protestant ascendancy to hold sway, he said.

The item has prompted a flood of messages on the radio station’s Facebook page — most against the idea of a celebration.

While council officials had mooted the idea of a celebration, it was decided not to go ahead due to the vehemence of opposition from some councillors.

Fine Gael’s members have put down an official motion at next Monday’s meeting seeking the display of the charter in the local library “as soon as it can be arranged”.