Bantry – West Cork harbour town

Bantry (Beanntraí) is a working harbour town at the head of Bantry Bay, a 35km inlet on the Wild Atlantic Way. It is the practical base for three peninsulas: Beara to the north, Sheep’s Head straight out to the west, and Mizen to the south. If you only do one thing here, walk the Hundred Steps at Bantry House for the view back over the bay – then come back into town for the Friday market. The square at the centre, Wolfe Tone Square, has a promenade, a fountain, an old anchor and a statue of the 1798 rebel leader the square is named for.

History

The 1796 French armada is the event everyone in Bantry knows. In December that year 43 ships sailed into the bay carrying troops to back Theobald Wolfe Tone and the United Irishmen. The wind turned and held, the fleet never landed, and the whole expedition turned back. The episode is marked in the square and in the Armada Exhibition at Bantry House.

Before that the bay was a pilchard-fishing harbour, drawing fleets from Spain, France and the Netherlands, and a Franciscan friary stood on the edge of town in the 15th century, though nothing of it survives. Local lore reaches back further still, to the 6th-century saint Breandán, said to have sailed to America in a coracle.

The White family, later Earls of Bantry, built Bantry House in the early 18th century. The 2nd Earl and his wife Mary laid out the seven garden terraces after a Grand Tour of Europe. The house opened to the public in 1946 and is still a family home. In 1979 the Whiddy Island oil terminal across the water was the site of the Betelgeuse tanker explosion, which killed 50 people – the worst disaster in the bay’s history, and one the town does not gloss over.

What to see and do

Bantry House and Gardens

The interior is a self-guided tour through rooms of European art, Aubusson tapestries and period furniture, but the gardens are the reason to come. The Hundred Steps climb past azaleas and rhododendrons to the best view in town, looking back over the bay to the Caha Mountains. The Italianate terraces hold a parterre and a wisteria-circled fountain, and there are two looped walks: the Old Ladies’ Walk up to the top of the steps, and a quieter streamside path to the walled garden. The tearoom does light lunches and afternoon tea.

One caveat – the house interior and the steps are not wheelchair-accessible, and the garden paths are gravel and steep in places.

Wolfe Tone Square and the market

The Friday market runs from 9am to 3.30pm and is the town at its best: local cheeses, fresh fish, crafts. On the first Friday of each month it expands into a traditional fair with livestock and poultry. Pubs and cafés line the square, so it is an easy place to spend a morning.

Bantry Museum

Run by the Bantry Historical Society, the museum sits behind the fire station and is small. It holds local artefacts including a West Cork hooded cloak and the Coomhola anvil from the area’s old smelting trade. Admission is free. Hours are seasonal – June to August, Tuesdays and Thursdays 10am–1pm and Wednesdays and Fridays 2pm–5pm – so check before making a special trip.

Festivals

Three festivals carry the summer. The West Cork Chamber Music Festival (June/July) and the West Cork Literary Festival (mid-July) both draw international names, and the Masters of Tradition festival of traditional music runs in late August. Concerts are staged in the Bantry House library, in local churches and in the pubs.

Walking and the peninsulas

The Sheep’s Head Way (an 88km loop) and the Beara Way both start near the town, with coastal paths, mountain ridges and stone circles along the way. Shorter heritage walks around Bantry link the Kilnaruane Pillar Stone, the 15th-century Franciscan graveyard and the old courthouse. Kealkill Stone Circle, 10km north, gives a view over the bay.

On the water

Bantry Bay is sheltered, which makes it good for sailing, kayaking and windsurfing. The Bantry Blueway Trail is a 12km self-guided paddling route with launch points at the harbour and the market pier. Bantry Bay Boat Hire and Bantry Bay Charters run kayaks, canoes and guided sea-safari tours. The bay holds a harbour-seal colony and a working mussel-farming industry, with dolphins seen now and again; terns, shags and winter gulls work the mudflats.

Golf and bikes

Bantry Bay Golf Club, an 18-hole course designed by Christy O’Connor Jr, lies just outside town. For the peninsulas, Biken Beara in the town centre hires mountain and hybrid bikes.

Nearby

A short ferry (15 minutes, €8 return, no cars) crosses to Whiddy Island, which has one pub – the Bankhouse Bar – and walking routes past a tower house, a holy well and the old schoolhouse. The Sheep’s Head peninsula has a 70km scenic loop drive, and Mizen Head at Ireland’s south-west tip has a visitor centre on the cliffs. Garnish Island, reached from Glengarriff, has the subtropical gardens laid out by Harold Peto. Ballylickey just north makes a quiet stop with bay views.

Beaches

Bantry’s own shore is stony, with a marina rather than a strand. For sand you need to drive. Barleycove, about 54km south-west at the tip of the Mizen peninsula (roughly 45 minutes), is the best of them – a wide stretch of sand backed by dunes, with clear Atlantic water. Closer in, Snave Beach (10 minutes north-east towards Glengarriff) is pebble, and popular with families for swimming and kayaking.

Where to stay

Bantry has a good spread of beds. A few worth knowing:

• Bantry House B&B – six en-suite rooms in the historic East Wing, all looking over the gardens. Guests get the library, honesty bar and billiards room when the house is closed to day visitors. The pick if you want to wake up inside the estate.
• Barry’s B&B – harbour-front, in the heart of town, handy for the pubs and shops on foot.
• Atlantic Shore B&B – on the edge of town within walking distance of the shops, with bay views.
• Aran Lodge – two acres of gardens at Ballylickey, bay views.
• Eden Crest – garden B&B with views to the Beara and Sheep’s Head peninsulas.
• Niblick – near the golf club, set up for golfers and walkers.
• Ouvane Falls B&B – at Ballylickey, river-bay views and a dining lounge.
• Blairscove B&B – Georgian house on a promontory into Dunmanus Bay, with individually styled suites and a restaurant.
• Doire Liath – family-run B&B a short walk from the centre, known for its breakfasts and baking.
• Dromcloc Lodge – farm stay at Rylane Point, with shore fishing.
• 6 New Street Apartments – modern studio apartments in the centre.

For self-catering there are holiday cottages and a campsite on the outskirts.

Shopping

Forest & Flock on New Street stocks locally designed crafts, jewellery and homeware and is the best bet for a souvenir that wasn’t made elsewhere. The Friday market also has handmade textiles and pottery from West Cork makers.

Practical information

Getting there

• By road – Bantry is on the N71, 85km (about 1h 15min) west of Cork City and 285km (about 4h) from Dublin via the M7/M8.
• By bus – Bus Éireann route 236 runs five times daily from Cork; route 270 links Killarney; Local Link services connect Glengarriff, Castletownbere and the Sheep’s Head villages.
• By air – Cork Airport is the nearest international airport (about 90km). Seasonal Bus Éireann services run from the airport to Bantry.
• By ferry – the Whiddy Island ferry departs from a pier 500m west of town; sailings are seasonal, so verify times on the operator’s website.
• Taxi and hire – A2B Taxi (+353 86 233 7574); bike hire at O’Donovans on Market St.

Visitor services

• Tourist office – Bantry Community Tourist Office, Wolfe Tone Square, tel +353 27 50229, bantry.ie.
• Bantry House – +353 27 50047, bantryhouse.com.
• Parking – free on-site parking at the house, the market square, the harbour marina and the Whiddy Island ferry pier.
• Accessibility – the Bantry House interior and the Hundred Steps are not wheelchair-friendly, and garden paths are gravel and steep in places. The market square and town centre are level and wheelchair-accessible. Dogs are welcome on leads in the gardens.