Discover Bantry
A market town at the head of one of the world's great natural harbours
What's On
Upcoming events and things happening in Bantry
Bantry New Year Gathering
RecurringFree family New Year's Eve gathering in Bantry with fireworks around 10pm.
West Cork Chamber Music Festival
RecurringInternational chamber music festival centred on Bantry House, typically late June to early July.
West Cork Literary Festival
RecurringWeek-long literary festival in Bantry, run immediately after the Chamber Music Festival.
Bantry Market
Returns annuallyBantry's long-running Friday market on Wolfe Tone Square, said to be the biggest in Cork county.
Bantry Right Now
Bantry sits on an open Atlantic bay, so pack a proper waterproof and a windproof layer whatever the season. Rain moves through quickly here and the wind off the water can be sharp even on a bright day, especially on the exposed sections of the Sheep's Head Way.
🌊 Tides
Bantry Harbour
Heights relative to chart datum
Where To Eat
From fine dining seafood to fish and chips by the harbour
The Ocean Restaurant at The Maritime Hotel
The Maritime Hotel's harbourside restaurant, modern Irish food with local ingredients.
The Brick Oven
Wood-fired pizza on the Quays, artisan toppings, family-friendly.
The Quays Bar
Traditional harbourside pub with outdoor seating over the water.
The town at the head of the bay
Bantry takes its name from Beanntraí, the territory of the Beanntraighe, and grew up as a market town around Wolfe Tone Square at the point where the land finally gives way to Bantry Bay. The bay itself is one of the great natural harbours of the world, deep enough that the Royal Navy used it and deep enough that a French invasion fleet of over forty ships anchored in it in December 1796, only to be beaten back by the weather rather than by the defenders on shore.
The White family built Bantry House on the rising ground above the harbour in 1739 and still lives there today, which makes it one of the few Irish stately homes where the family that built it never left. The town below it has spent the centuries since as a working market and fishing port, and that working character is still the thing that separates Bantry from the postcard prettiness of somewhere like Kinsale: it is a real town first, a tourist stop second, and it wears that the right way round.
Bantry town and harbour at the head of Bantry Bay