urban district, county seat, and minor seaport at the head of Tralee Bay, County Kerry, southwestern Ireland. The earls of Desmond had their main castle at Tralee in the 14th and 15th centuries. There are remains of the castle wall and of a medieval Dominican abbey. The Roman Catholic church, completed in 1870, is a large Gothic structure. Tralee, a bacon-curing centre and market town with textiles and light manufacturing, is the gateway to the Dingle peninsula and a busy tourist centre. Pop. (2006) 20,288.