Not Far to Bantry
Not Far to Bantry
In fact, it was just across the bay on the south shore tucked behind Whiddy Island. These days of course with the ongoing and unfolding history of shipping in the area the bay is well marked with yellow, yellow and black, red and green and red and black buoys to keep the mariner away from rocks and the precious marine farms.
Our 2009 pilot tells us there were mussel farms producing 4000 tons a year, two organic salmon farms, an abalone farm on Bere Island, where the Vikings first landed, and sea urchin seed is nurtured ready for export mainly to France. Oysters and seaweed are also fruits of the sea in these productive waters.
We passed the grey barrels of the mussel farms on our way around Whiddy Island, stocking nets are hung between the lines that hang underneath these barrels so we steered well clear.
We were very impressed when Harbour Master Michael Murphy was ready to take our lines, considering the office is up in the town we wondered how he knew we were coming. “Oh so you’re not the French boat I was expecting,” he explained! He was very welcoming and helpful and a forward thinker as is the town which is very accommodating to visitors arriving by land, air and sea. He felt Glengarriff would also benefit from a small marina but I wondered if it was nicer as a more basic venue for yachts. “There’s a Saturday market on in town, its quite worth a visit.” So off we went for a little culture, history and sustenance.
It is thought that Cessair, granddaughter of Noah, landed a little further up the bay from here with fifty other women and three men to escape the great flood in 2900BCE. In the fifth century Christianity arrived on Whiddy and along the coast and not so long ago, on Bere Island lying just off Castletownbere, our first landing spot in the Bay, remains of a Viking breakwater and boathouse were found. The Vikings were the master mariners of the North Atlantic from the ninth to the eleventh century, imagine that, all those helmets!
When I was working away on my OU Degree one of the courses, Culture and Belief in Europe 1450 to 1600, was particularly heavy, literally, if I laid the books on their sides on top of each other from the floor up they came to my waist, or very nearly. Us nervous students wondered how on earth we could revise for the three hour exam with all that information. Our tutor told us broadly what each of the questions would require and that we should remember just three significant dates for each question and then weave our answers around those dates. Well it worked and I scored my highest mark, 89%.
So here goes, three dates about Bantry Bay.
In 1689, supported by the French King Louis XIV (who still holds the record for the longest reigning monarch of a sovereign state at 72 years, 110 days, go Lilibet) the French were unloading men and supplies in Bantry to aid James II’s attempt to regain the throne. Suddenly the English fleet was spotted on the horizon. The French drove them back out of the bay but decided to retreat anyway, maybe for fear of becoming trapped. That was the Battle of Bantry Bay.
One hundred and seven years later in 1796 the French Armada arrived to help the Irish wage a rebellion against British Rule in Ireland. Brave Wolf Tone the Protestant Irish leader was aboard one of the French ships. It was a certain Richard White, owner of Bantry House, who spotted the fleet and warned the British of their arrival. Gales from the east contrived with British preparations for the attack to turn the French fleet around and so without a single cannon ball being released they headed for home, defeated before any combat began.
So, the third and final date is a peacetime one, on 20.01.1912 the Water Wheel Hydro System was switched on by Rita Kelly and provided Bantry with all the electricity it needed for 25 years. Quite an achievement before the town linked in to the national grid. The fast-running millstream had powered water wheels that in turn provided the power for numerous flour and woollen mills for centuries before as well. The products were exported to England, Europe and the USA, so you can understand why the town has an all comers welcome and international feel about it.
It even has a three-screen cinema, where we watched ‘Top Gun Maverick’ to Rob’s sheer and complete pleasure!
We did do some work as well by patching the dinghy, which now leaks much less than it did.
The yacht that Michael had been waiting for turned out to be the French registered Xventure, on an entirely peaceful visit this time, from St Nazaire owned by Claude who also had his life long friends Hubert and Eric crewing for him. We were able to take his lines as they came alongside and they kindly invited us aboard on our second evening for drinks and a chat. We reciprocated the next evening and got to know and like them very much. Three well married, recently retired gentlemen who also showed great interest in my book. Hmm, some sales there!
Above our marina on the quay was a car park which accommodated camper vans with hook-ups, water and loos and an arrangement with the nearby hotel for cheap hot showers. As a result, these independent land travellers had a beautiful view over the bay from their location. We went in to Michael’s office (to pay for our first two nights and have a chat), with its CCTV coverage of the marina, Zoonie right in the middle, so that is how he saw us arriving, but to pay the additional night we used the same pay machine as the camper vans occupants.
I can see what Michael was getting at in making Bantry an inviting place for visitors. In warmer, pandemic free times cruise liners sit the other side of Whiddy while their passengers are ferried ashore and together the visitors help keep Bantry the vibrant place it is and add considerably to the national economy. The industry is just getting going again and we wished Michael good luck in the process.
