Fermoy

Sister cities

• Ploemeur

History

The ringfort at Carntierna on top of Corrin hill, 2.4 km (1.5 mi) south of Fermoy, was an important Iron Age site. A Cistercian abbey was founded in Fermoy in the 13th century. At the dissolution of the monasteries during the Tudor period, the abbey and its lands passed through the following dynasties: Sir Richard Grenville, Robert Boyle and William Forward. However, the site could hardly have been regarded as a town and, by the late 18th century, was little more than a few cabins and an inn. In 1791, the lands around Fermoy were bought by a Scotsman, John Anderson. He was an entrepreneur who developed the roads and started the mail coach system in Ireland. He designed the town and the streets remain much the same as they were originally built. In 1984, some of his descendants, living in Australia, named a winery, Fermoy Estate, after the town he established. A plaque and bust in his honour were unveiled at the entrance to the town park in 2001. Fermoy was the site of Fermoy Barracks, a large British Army barracks, when Ireland was under British rule. In 1797, when the army was looking to establish a new and permanent base, Anderson gave them the land as an inducement to locate in Fermoy. Anderson and the town received economic benefit from the arrangement. In 1806 the first permanent barracks, the East Barracks, were built. They were located on 16 acres of land, and provided accommodation for 112 officers and 1478 men of infantry, and 24 officers, 120 men, and 112 horses of cavalry. A general 130-bed military hospital was also built. In 1809, the West Barracks was built. This also had a 42-bed hospital. When both barracks were complete, there was accommodation for 14 field officers, 169 officers, 2,816 men, and 152 horses. By the 1830s, this was the…

Geography

Fermoy is situated on the river Blackwater and has steep hills corresponding to the river valley. The downtown area of Fermoy is located in a flood plain and has flooded relatively often in the late 20th and early 21st century. The most expensive flood prevention works ever carried out in Cork were completed in Fermoy in 2015. The civil parish of Fermoy incorporates the Fermoy Urban electoral division (ED), much of the Fermoy Rural ED, and includes twelve sub-townlands.

Most-observed species

• European Robin

  Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  321
• Common Chaffinch

  Fringilla coelebs Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  265
• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  263
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  258
• Eurasian Wren

  Troglodytes troglodytes (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  240
• Hooded Crow

  Corvus cornix Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  201
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  198
• Eurasian Magpie

  Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  197