, translit_lang1 =

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

, translit_lang1_type = Derivation: , translit_lang1_info = , translit_lang1_type1 = Meaning: , translit_lang1_info1 = , image_skyline = , imagesize = , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_alt = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Ireland , pushpin_label_position = , pushpin_label = , pushpin_map_alt = , pushpin_mapsize = , pushpin_map_caption = Coomkeen shown within

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, coordinates = , coor_pinpoint = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name =

, subdivision_type1 = County , subdivision_name1 =

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns ar ...

, subdivision_type2 = Barony , subdivision_name2 = Carbery West (W.D.) , subdivision_type3 = Civil parish , subdivision_name3 =

Durrus Durrus () is a village and civil parish in West Cork in Ireland. It is situated from Bantry in County Cork, at the head of the Sheep's Head and the Mizen Head peninsulas. Durrus is on the Wild Atlantic Way driving route which spans the ...

, leader_title = , leader_name = , leader_title1 = , leader_name1 = , established_title = , established_date = , established_title1 = , established_date1 = , seat_type = , seat = , parts_type = Settlements , parts_style = para , p1 = , total_type = , unit_pref = , area_footnotes = , area_magnitude = , area_total_ha = , area_total_acre = 914 , population_footnotes = , population_total = , population_as_of = , population_density_km2 = , population_density_sq_mi= , population_note = , blank_name_sec1 = , blank_info_sec1 = , website = , footnotes = Coomkeen () is a

townland A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic orig ...

located near

West Cork West Cork ( ga, Iarthar Chorcaí) is a tourist region and municipal district in County Cork, Ireland. As a municipal district, West Cork falls within the administrative area of Cork County Council, and includes the towns of Bantry, Castletownber ...

Province of Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

. It is a small valley home to approximately 14 families, it is also the home of the world-famous

Durrus Cheese Durrus is a washed rind cow's milk cheese from Ireland. It was developed by Jeffa Gill in 1979, and is made by traditional methods. Durrus is produced in the valley of Coomkeen, near the village of Durrus on the Sheep's Head Peninsula in ...

History

Home to Reverend Timothy Crowley,

Parish Priest A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

, Coomkeen Upper, 1776. Prior to purchase under the Land Acts of the early 1900s, the lands were owned by

Lord Bandon Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...

and rented by tenant farmers. In the late 1920s a new road to

Bantry Bantry () is a town in the civil parish of Kilmocomoge in the barony of Bantry on the southwest coast of County Cork, Ireland. It lies in West Cork at the head of Bantry Bay, a deep-water gulf extending for to the west. The Beara Peninsula i ...

was built from Coomkeen and was celebrated by local poet

Charles Dennis Charles Dennis (born December 16, 1946) is an award-winning Canadian actor, playwright, journalist, author, director, and screenwriter. Background Dennis is the third son of Sam and Sade Dennis. He attended Cedarvale Public School, Vaughan Road ...

: :''Oh! Durrus, you were often fleeced,'' :''In the good old days gone by'' :''And only for Mr. MacManaway'' :''You should lie down and die'' :''He's out to help industry'' :''Give every man fair play,'' :''His enterprising capitalist'' :''Will surely win the day'' :''His latest stunt is to build a road'' :''Through the fair valley of Coomkeen'' :''It starts at Crocawadra'' :''An ends in Gearameen'' :''We'll make of him a Bishop'' :''And that without a doubt,'' :''And he'll remove the Border,'' :''Between North and South.''

1901 census

1901 Census of Coomkeen. * Name: Number in each family *William Dukelow 7 *James Dukelow 7 *Margaret Sullivan 3 *John Burke 3 *Daniel Burke 7 *Daniel Sullivan 6 *Catherine Mahony 3 *John McCarthy 4 *Catherine Burke 4 *John Cronin 4 *Denis Cronin 2 *Mary Hooly 3 *Johanna Moynihan 4 *Daniel Wholihan 5 *Timothy Wholihan 7 *John Wholihan 2 *Cornelius Cronin 3

Speakers of Irish and English, 1901 Census

John, Mary, 26, Daniel Burke, Daniel, 64, Mary Burke, 60, Daniel, 63, Mary Ann, 50, Sullivan, Catherine Mahony, 68, John 50, Hanorah, 40, Cronin, Mary Wholly, 80, Daniel, 50, Julia, 48, Jeremiah, 14, Wholihan, Timothy Wholihan, 55

1911 Census

1911 Census of Coomkeen. Name: Number in each family *Husband: John Bourke (note spelling) 4 *Jeremiah Bourke 9 *Cornelius Crimmin (Cronin) 7 *Jeremiah Cronin 10 *John Wholihan 8 *Daniel Wholihan 4 *Timothy Wholihan 4 *Jermiah Moynihan 6 *Hannah Cronin 4 *Denis Bourke 4 *Jeremiah Whalley 5 *Ger McCarthy 7 *Thomas Mahony 2 *Mary Sullivan 3 *James Dukelow 5 *William Dukelow 4 *Cornelius Scully 2

Present population

By 2006 most of the original families who lived in the 19th and early 20th centuries were no longer resident. Around 10 of the current dwellings are pre-famine, according to the early OS maps. This townland has had most of its field names preserved by the Cork and Kerry Place Names Survey in 2008. There is a burial ground; mass rock site and on the Crottees boundary, a stone circle overlooking Durrus village. There was reputedly some mining exploration carried out on the south side of Knockboolteeangh in the 1840s and ore was extracted but not dressed.

References

Townlands of County Cork {{Cork-geo-stub