A look at Abbeydorney, Co. Kerry in the 1840s

ABBEYDORNEY, a village, in the parish of O Dorney, union of Listowel, barony of Clanmaurice,
county of Kerry, and province of Minster, 7 1/2 miles (N.N.E.) from Tralee; containing 418 inhabitants. This place, which is situated at the intersection of the old and new roads from Tralee to Listowel, takes its name from the ancient abbey of Kirie Eleyson, or O’Dorney, founded here in 1154 by some person unknown, for Cistercian monks, who were brought from the abbey of Magio, in the county of Limerick ; the abbot was a lord in parliament. The remains of it are still to be seen a little to the north of the village, but they retain few vestiges of its original character. The village, which consists mostly of thatched houses, is a constabulary police station; and a manorial court is held occasionally. The Roman Catholic parochial chapel, built here in 1826, at an expense of £600, is a spacious edifice fronted with stone, in the later English style, and embellished with a fine altar-piece and painting. Near the village is a flour mill.

Extract from: Lewis – A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland