Bantry House Totally Explained

Everything about Bantry House totally explained

Bantry House is a historic house with gardens in Bantry, County Cork, Ireland.

History

Around 1700, Bantry House was built on the South side of Bantry Bay. Blackrock was its original name. In 1750, Councillor Richard White bought Blackrock from Samuel Hutchinson and changed the name to Seafield. The Whites had settled on Whiddy Island across the Bay in the late 17th century, after having originally been merchants in Limerick. The family prospered and considerable purchases of land were made in the locality. By the 1780s, Bantry House comprised some 80,000 acres (320 km²) although much of this wouldn't be arable. Bantry House overlooks Bantry Bay. It is a stately home. It has been open to the public since 1946, and since approximately 1990 has offered bed and breakfast accommodations.

Gardens

The Bantry House gardens were developed by the second Earl of Bantry and his wife Mary. They took inspiration from their travels across Europe. The gardens contain seven terraces in all, the house is located on the third of these. The famous 100 steps are located behind the house and appear to rise out of a magnificent fountain and are surrounded by wonderful azaleas and rhododendron. The gardens are a pleasure to visit at any time of year and are constantly undergoing restoration works to help improve and maintain them.
By 1997 much of the grounds of Bantry House was suffering from neglect and it took a European grant to start the restoration process. Funding ceased in 2000 but the work is ongoing and when completed should restore the grounds to their former glory.

Armada Center

In 1796, Theobald Wolfe Tone (External Link

) and the United Irishmen (External Link

) attempted to land a formidable French armada, commanded by Admiral Hoche in Bantry bay. It was intended to expel the British and establish an Irish Republic. The armada consisted of 50 naval warships and 15,000 men. Richard White, having heard about the invasion had trained a militia to oppose the landing as he and his tenants were loyal to the British crown. Munitions were stored in Bantry House for safe keeping. Look outs were posted on Both Mizen Head and Sheep's Head to send warning of an invasion. In the end the French armada never had a chance of landing. The weather was too severe, and even ship to ship communication was too difficult. 10 ships were lost. One of these 'The Surveillante' remained on the bottom of Bantry bay for almost 200 years.
The ship was discovered in 1982. In 1985 it was declared a national monument and work began on the excavation, preservation and exhibition of the ship and its contents. The armada center showcases the story of the attempted French landing in west cork and contains artifacts excavated from the wreck in Bantry bay as well as a 1 to 6 scale model of 'The Surveillante'. The center also tells the story of Theobald Wolfe Tone, with extracts from his log and a life-size statue. Visitors can also enjoy the individual sound tour of the armada center.

Gallery

Get more info on 'Bantry House'.

External Link Exchanges

Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:

<a href="http://bantry_house.totallyexplained.com">Bantry House Totally Explained</a>

Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned.