By Sean Moriarty

A brand new walking loop which will trace the history of Killarney and how it got its name is in the pipeline and could become a huge tourist attraction.

Killarney historian Thomas ‘Totty’ O’Sullivan from Lewis Road is an author, illustrator, musician and storyteller. Earlier this year he devised a walk in Killorglin linking all of the town’s historical sites.

He will now turn his attention to his home town and how it got its name.

Killarney translates from Irish into the Church of the Sloe.

Thomas has hand-drawn a map that links 41 sites of historical importance. The walk starts and finishes at the Church of the Sloe or St Mary’s Church of Ireland at Kenmare Place. Linking all the sites is the base for his historical walk and he now hopes to attract funding to allow him print brochures and launch the official historical walking tour and guide to Killarney.

“This is an exploration into of the origin of the name ‘Cill Áirne’ which translates as Church of the Sloe or Killarney, and one of the most famous tourism destinations in the world,” he said.

His research took him to Adamstown, County Wexford.

The Irish name for Adamstown is Magh Áirní which is translated as ‘Plain of the Sloes’.

The town’s patron saint was St Abbán a pre-Patrician saint who travelled abroad and all over the south of Ireland in the fifth century, founding many ecclesiastical foundations and sites on his way.

St Abbán of Wexford founded Aghadoe, Killarney in the sixth Century. From here Thomas was able to trace the importance, firstly the religious sites around the town, and linked them with more modern monuments like the World Ploughing Memorial on Mission Road.