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Home , Bantry, Bantry Bay

LOO GE P N71 W A Mealagh River Drombrow Lough

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Sheep’s Head Way Loop S Quay H ᕤ Star-shaped Fort Standing ᕢ ᕤ Stone WHIDDY Ferry ᕢ Starting point walk 4 ISLAND ᕢ BANTRY Pier Tourist O ce ᕣ N Burial Ground ᕡ i ᕥ ᕣ ᕡ Burial ᕣ Standing Stone ᕥ ᕡ Ground Standing Stone Sheep’s Head Way 284m Holy Well Starting point walk 5 Queen’s Table Knocknaveagh Standing Stone ᕥ Kilnaruane Pillar Stone N71 ᕣ ᕣ Standing Stone Sheep’s Head Way

Standing 232m Stone

N71 240m Other walks in and around Bantry providing information about buildings and KEY TO WALKS 1 Bantry history trails: Two town centre trails otherR591 historical features of interest. Abbey & Rope Walk Loop 2 are signposted from Bantry Tourist Office by The Sheep’s Head Way: This long-distance Béicín Loop 3 finger-posts. At a number of points along route passes though Bantry and includes a Knocknaveagh & Vaughan´s Pass 4 the way there are interpretative boards loop walk on . Donemark Loop R586 5 Lady’s Well & Airstrip Loop

N71 General Information LO Additional way-marked walks within 20km of Bantry O Sheeps Head Way and Beara Way are two long-distance E P trails located in west . G For more details see: www.sheepsheadway.ie and www.bearatourism.com/bearaway.html A W Clusters of loop walks that link into these two trails and IN

which are located within 20km of Bantry can be found at T (www.drimoleaguewalkway.com), A

Woods Nature Reserve (www.glengarriffnaturereserve.ie), I

Gougane Barra Forest Park (www.coillteoutdoors.ie) and BANTRY L

Heritage Loop Walks in Bantry Kealkil (www.carriganass.ie). R K

Website: for more information on Bantry and all aspects of E

Bantry has a wealth of heritage, natural its heritage, including biodiversity, see www.visitbantry.ie S and built, from sea, woodlands and Email: [email protected] H

mountains, to Bantry House, the Facilities: Bantry has all the facilities the walker might require, Kilnaruane Pillar stone and story of Wolfe including accommodation, restaurants, cafes and shops to buy relevant maps, guides, books, clothing and provisions. Tone. The walks featured in this brochure The Bantry Tourist Office is located in the Square. were set up by Bantry Tidy Towns group and Toilets: Public toilets are located at the Tourist Office and at aim to take walkers on a tour of many of the the seaward end of the square near the Garda Station. heritage points of interests in and around Emergency Numbers: In any emergency dial 999 or 112. the town. The walks vary from 2.5m to 5km Bantry Garda Station 027-20860. plus, but they can be linked together to form Text & photos: Claire Heardman, Hazel Vickery, Liz Campbell a walk of more than 20km. The walks are Special Thanks: Bantry Tidy Towns Association complemented by a series of interpretative Funding: WCDP, Cork County Council & Bantry Development & Tourism Association boards erected by Bantry Development Published by: Bantry Development & Tourism Association & Tourism Association, Fáilte and Design: www.dennisondesign.ie Cork County Council. 1 Abbey and Rope Walk Loop 4 Follow the new promenade along the sea front Donemark Loop Starting Point: Tourist Office, Bantry Square (below), backed by banks of gorse (furze). You might Starting Point: Peace Park Distance: 4km + short trip to Kilnaruane Pillar Stone spot a swimming harbour seal: Inner is Distance: 2.5km Climb: 15m Climb: 50m Difficulty: Easy Colour Code: Blue one of the most important areas in Ireland for this Difficulty: Easy Colour Code: Green species. Terns are a common sight, with nearby Horse Island being home to the largest tern colony Route description in . Bantry is one of the most important Route description Passing the stone arch entrance to Bantry House on mussel growing areas in Europe and in the bay are The Peace Park (right) is a your left, follow the pavement along the south side of rows of barrels from which the shellfish are grown. small formal garden owned by the bay. You will soon reach a pier from which a small Cork County Council. inshore fishing industry operates and from which the In 2010, Sustain Whiddy Island ferry departs. Nearby is the site of an planted apple, plum and earlier wooden pier where sailing ships off-loaded cobnuts here to form their cargoes and so-called ´coffin ships` departed the nucleus of a new with emigrants destined for America in the 1845-1847 community orchard. famine. Now the area is home to a pair of otters. As you follow the pavement The Abbey graveyard is worth exploring to see the heading out of town, look out monuments and memorials erected to those who lost for the Priest´s Leap plaque, their lives at sea and to the victims of the Belelguese which is where a priest´s disaster of 1979. As is characteristic of many Irish horse reputedly landed having graveyards, upright yew is present. This uniquely Irish leapt from a pass above variety of yew originated in County Fermanagh. Coomhola 16km away. Soon At the end of the promenade, is a small gravelly great views over Bantry Bay Cross the road and bay known as Cove. Go up the road past Reenrour are revealed to your left. After a while you reach a continue up hill to the estate and follow the way-markers to Marino Street, bridge over the Mealagh River. On the seaward side Westlodge Hotel. The originally called the Kerry Coach Road. Turn right of the bridge is an old millrace with dramatic falls, hotel is so named after the former Methodist chapel, now a medical especially after heavy rain. This area is Dún na mBarc because it was the site centre, pass under the piers of a bridge over which or ´fort of the ships´ where the first people to arrive in of the western entrance the railway once passed. Go left in front of terraced Ireland are thought to have landed. lodge to Bantry House. cottages and you are following the route of the old At the hotel turn left railway. Emerging behind the fire station, turn left and Go right at the bridge and right again to reach a much onto a road known as left again to return to the square. older stone bridge. On the river here you might spot the Rope Walk. Along a kingfisher, dipper or grey wagtail. This river also this road make sure supports a small population of the rare freshwater to visit the unique 7th 3 pearl mussel, Ireland´s longest living animal which can century Kilnaruane Knocknaveagh & Vaughan’s Pass live to over 120 years old. After crossing the bridge Pillar stone (right) which Starting Point: Tourist Office, Bantry Square continue straight along the small road. This route is features a very early part of the original Bantry/Glengarriff road before the Distance: 5km round trip, plus the option of an depiction of a boat. new bridge and road was built in the late 1830s. After additional 5km Climb: 170m (or 280m if continuing less than 1km you will rejoin the N71, where you turn On reaching town, up Knocknaveagh) left to return to the Peace Park. follow the signs to the Difficulty: Easy (pavements and small roads) to Christian Fellowship Church, passing some of the old medium Colour Code: Orange traditional cottages in the back streets of Bantry and 5 the high stone walls of the Bantry Demesne which in Lady’s Well & Airstrip Loop summer are topped with pink and white Valerian. At Route description Starting Point: Westlodge Hotel the Cinemax turn right to reach Bantry square. Cross towards JJ Crowley’s pub, go left and then Distance: 5km (Airstrip only, 1km) Climb: 50m right at the Bank of Ireland. At the post office turn Difficulty: Easy, good walking boots recommended Options: This loop can be varied at two points. right up the hill and follow the signs for An Cíllínach, for off road section Colour Code: Red Bantry House: Go up the drive to Bantry House a childrens’ burial ground. At An Cíllínach continue (under the stone archway) and explore the gardens, up hill, going straight across at a cross roads, before woodlands and house - tickets and information turning left and winding up hill until Vaughan’s Pass Route description leaflets are available at reception. Apart from the carpark and viewing point (below) is reached. On a Cross the main road and historical interest of the house and gardens, this is clear day there are exceptional panoramic views over take the small road sign- also an important site in terms of biodiversity. The Bantry to Whiddy Island and the mountains of the posted to Dromcloc. Turn grasslands support one of the richest assemblages of . left onto a smaller road and grassland fungi in Ireland and a rare grass, meadow follow the markers across brome. The buildings are home to several species Retrace your the fields. Along the way of bat, including Leisler’s and lesser horseshoe. To steps back there are some fantastic reach the Rope Walk follow the Sheeps’ Head Way to Bantry views out across Bantry markers up along a track. Turn left to reach Bantry. or extend Bay to the mountains, Westlodge Hotel: Go the walk by including Sugar Loaf and through the right hand heading off- Hungry Hill. This route gate next to the yacht road (no dogs features a religious site club and follow the permitted) known as Lady´s Well (left) track up to the hotel. following the with a mass rock dating Little egret can be seen Sheep’s Head from penal times. feeding at low tide in Way signs the intertidal pond. No onto the open After Lady’s Well the route emerges onto a small dogs are permitted on heath of Knocknaveagh, a peak of 284m. The walk country road until a T-junction where you go right. this route option. across the hill to meet a small road on the far side is This road can be followed all the way back to the 2.5km each way. The moorland flowers include the Westlodge. Or to reach the shingle shore and airstrip purples of ling, cross-leaved heath, bell heather and at Beach, turn left after a few hundred metres 2 Béicín Loop the insectivorous species large-flowered butterwort. (signposted Bantry Water Works). The clay cliff, Starting Point: Tourist Office, Bantry Square Bird species such as kestrel, raven and skylark may ‘Blue Hill’, to the left of the beach is part of Bantry’s also be sighted. geologically important drumlin swarm, which is a Distance: 2.5km Climb: 30m Difficulty: Easy group of low, rounded hills formed by glaciers. (pavements and paths) Colour Code: Purple Note: from the small road on the far side of Knocknaveagh it is possible to return to Bantry on Follow the track between the airstrip and the Route description a 7km road-route (care is needed as parts of the shingle beach to a gravel beach, where groups of Pass St ’s Church heading towards the sea. road can be busy) oystercatcher and turnstone can often be seen. A The inlet to the left supports large numbers of black- by following the number of cormorant colonies are located on islands headed gulls and parties of mute swans. In winter, Sheep’s Head in Bantry Bay and these birds are frequently seen the occasional rare migrant gull is seen e.g. ring-billed Way markers as diving for fish. At the gravel beach the Airstrip to gull. The car park on the right was the site of a railway far as the Captain Abbey option (see below) may be possible, otherwise station: from 1881 to 1961, there was a train line from O’Neill monument. retrace your steps back along the beach. Cork to Bantry. On reaching the old railway pier, After viewing the imagine the days when passengers, after 1892, could monument return Airstrip to Abbey: At LOW TIDE ONLY it is possible step off the train from Cork and then catch a Bantry the short distance to continue along the stony beach to emerge at the Steamship Company boat across the bay to the main road new slipway by the Abbey graveyard, where you turn to Glengarriff. and continue on right to return to the Westlodge Hotel. to Bantry.