Banna Strand ( Gaeilge: Trá na Beannaí), also known as Banna Beach, is a beach in North Kerry, Ireland. It is an

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

beach extending from the Smallrock (Roc Beag) and Blackrock in the North to Carrahane at its southern edge. It is around north west of

Tralee Tralee ( ; , ; formerly , meaning 'strand of the River Lee') is the county town of County Kerry in the south-west of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The town is on the northern side of the neck of the Dingle Peninsula, and is the largest town in ...

. It features shifting sand dunes along its entire length which rise up to 12 metres (40 ft). Carrahane lagoon on the south end, famous for migrating birds and the

Roger Casement Roger David Casement (; 1 September 1864 – 3 August 1916), known as Sir Roger Casement, CMG, between 1911 and 1916, was a diplomat and Irish nationalist executed by the United Kingdom for treason during World War I. He worked for the Britis ...

landing. The mountains of the

Dingle Peninsula The Dingle Peninsula (; anglicised as Corkaguiny or Corcaguiny, the name of the corresponding barony) is the northernmost of the major peninsulas in County Kerry. It ends beyond the town of Dingle at Dunmore Head, the westernmost point of m ...

can be seen on the south west horizon. Many residents from Tralee make a trip to Banna Strand on the warmest summer days.

History

Roger Casement

Historically, Banna Strand is associated with

who was captured on 21 April 1916, having landed from a German

U-boat U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...

. Casement was involved in an attempt to land arms for Irish Republicans from the German vessel the ''

Aud The Australian dollar ( sign: $; code: AUD; also abbreviated A$ or sometimes AU$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; and also referred to as the dollar or Aussie dollar) is the official currency and legal tender of Au ...

''. A monument for Casement and another man, Robert Monteith, stands near the dunes with the inscription: ''"At a spot on Banna beach adjacent to here Roger Casement - Humanitarian & Irish revolutionary leader - Robert Monteith & a third man came ashore from a German submarine on Good Friday morning 21 April 1916 in furthering the cause of Irish freedom."'' The mysterious 'third man' was Daniel Julian Bailey, a soldier in the Royal Irish Rifles in the British army who when a POW was recruited (as Daniel Beverley) into the 'Casement Brigade'. The monument was erected in 1966 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the landing. A decision was taken by the 1966 Banna Strand committee to deliberately omit the name of the "third man" from the monument because, following his capture, he turned "King's evidence." The sod was turned, for the construction of the monument, by Florrie Monteith, the daughter of Robert Monteith. Florrie was also the author of a biography of her father that was entitled "The Mystery Man of Banna Strand."

1980s to the present

Horizon Radio, a Kerry radio station from the 1980s, was located in Banna. Banna Beach Hotel was opened nearby by Joe Murphy and in 2002 expanded to Banna Beach Leisure centre. In the 1990s the car parking area was moved to the beach from behind the dunes. Blackrock banna strand kerry ireland

References

External links

From

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

Archives
1966 interview with Raimund Weisbach, captain of U19 in 1916.
(Scroll down to ''News: German Seamen Arrive for 1916 Commemoration'') {{coord, 52.3582, N, 9.8368, W, type:landmark_region:IE_scale:50000, display=title Beaches of County Kerry