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Portmagee used to be known, in Irish, as
'An Caladh' or 'The Ferry' because of the
constant traffic back and forth between the mainland and
Valentia Island. The provenance of its English name however,
is far less mundane.
Portmagee or Magee's Port, as it was known,
is named after one of the most notorious smugglers
of the 18th Century, a Captain Theobald Magee.
Having served in the army of King James
as an Officer, Magee 'retired' to a life of merchant shipping
between France, Portugal and Ireland. Thanks to the intricately
chisled coast around the South West, his trade in contraband
spirits, textiles and tea and tobacco, was extremely hard
to police and therefore extremely profitable. He married
Mrs. Bridget Morgell, the widow of a rich Dingle merchant
and also the daughter of the then MP for County Kerry, Mr.
Thomas Crosby.
Being related to the best smuggler in
Ireland can't have sat too easily on Crosby's shoulders
and there is some suspicion that Magee's death in a Lisbon
monastery was due to some exile imposed by the powerful
MP.
However, his wife, and his sons continued
the family business of smuggling. Although many would view
Magee's activities as smuggling, we like to think of him
as a visionary of pan-European free trade. Ahem.
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