Blarney vs. Bantry House

I know you all are disappointed that we’re not going to the Blarney Stone to kiss it, along with the 3,000 other people in the parking lot that day, so I’m posting some pics of the Bantry House instead. Here’s the history from the website. We’ll be having a tour & lunch there. The gardens are beautiful & I’m sure you’ll love it.

Bantry House History
• 1750 Richard White (Councillor White) purchases Bantry House (then called Blackrock House).
• 1796 Attempted invasion of Ireland by the French, led by Wolfe Tone.
• 1797 Richard White created Baron Bantry.
• 1818 Richard White elevated to the peerage (1st Earl of Bantry).
• 1820 to 1840 Richard White, Viscount Berehaven travels extensively and creates his collection.
• 1840 to 1860 The Famine. Works on the gardens in progress.
• 1914 to 1918 First World War.
• 1922 Irish Civil War. During the war, the Cottage Hospital in Bantry, run by the nuns of the Convent of Mercy, was not large enough. The then owner, Mrs Leigh-White, offered the house as a hospital to care for the injured on both sides of the conflict.
• 1939 to 1945 Second World War. During the war years, the house and stables were occupied by the Second Cyclist Squadron of the Irish Army. See also the plaques on the north wall of the house to men and officers of the Royal Canadian Air Force who died when their plane crashed into the sea off the Fastnet Rock.
• 1946 House opens to the public.
• 1978 Egerton Shelswell-White (the present owner) inherits the house.
• 2001 Archaeological findings (conducted by University of Ulster) of a medieval Gaelic village and a 17th century deserted English fishing settlement on the west lawn.