Bandon, Ireland
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Bandon (; ) is a town in
County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...
,
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
. It lies on the
River Bandon The River Bandon (, from ''ban-dea'', meaning "goddess") is a river in County Cork, Ireland. The Bandon rises at Nowen Hill (one of the Shehy Mountains), to the north of Drimoleague. The river then flows to Dunmanway, before turning eastwar ...
between two hills. The name in Irish means 'Bridge of the Bandon', a reference to the origin of the town as a crossing point on the river. In 2004 Bandon celebrated its
quatercentenary An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded. Most countries celebrate national anniversaries, typically called national days. These could be the date of independence of the nation or the adoption o ...
. The town, sometimes called the Gateway to
West Cork West Cork () is a tourist region and municipal district in County Cork, Ireland. As a municipal district, West Cork falls within the administrative area of Cork County Council, and includes the towns of Bantry, Castletownbere, Clonakilty, Du ...
, had a population of 8,196 at the 2022 census. Bandon is in the Cork South-West (
Dáil Éireann Dáil Éireann ( ; , ) is the lower house and principal chamber of the Oireachtas, which also includes the president of Ireland and a senate called Seanad Éireann.Article 15.1.2° of the Constitution of Ireland reads: "The Oireachtas shall co ...
) constituency, which has three seats.


History

In September 1588, at the start of the
Plantation of Munster Plantations in 16th- and 17th-century Ireland () involved the confiscation of Irish-owned land by the English Crown and the colonisation of this land with settlers from Great Britain. The main plantations took place from the 1550s to the 162 ...
, Phane Beecher of London acquired, as Undertaker, the seignory of Castlemahon. It was in this seignory that the town of Bandon was formed in 1604 by Phane Beecher's son and heir Henry Beecher, together with other English settlers John Shipward, William Newce and John Archdeacon. The original settlers in Beecher's seignory came from various locations in England. Originally the town proper was inhabited solely by
Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
, as a by-law had been passed stating "That no Roman Catholic be permitted to reside in the town". A protective wall extended for about a mile around the town. Written on the gates of Bandon at this time was a warning "Entrance to Jew, Turk or Atheist; any man except a Papist". A response was scrawled under the sign noting: "The man who wrote this wrote it well, for the same thing is writ on the gates of hell." Buildings sprang up on both sides of the river and over time a series of bridges linked both settlements. Like other towns in Cork, it benefitted greatly from the patronage of
Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork (13 October 1566 – 15 September 1643), also known as 'the Great Earl of Cork', was an English politician who served as Lord Treasurer of the Kingdom of Ireland. Lord Cork was an important figure in the continu ...
, although he was not, as he liked to claim, its "founder".
Christ Church, Kilbrogan Christ Church is a deconsecrated Anglican church located in Kilbrogan, Bandon, County Cork, Ireland. The oldest surviving post-Reformation Protestant church in Ireland, it was completed circa 1610. It is dedicated to Jesus Christ, and was part o ...
, is the oldest church in Bandon, and also the oldest purpose-built post-Reformation Protestant church in Ireland. In 1689 it was the scene of a clash between Jacobite and
Williamite A Williamite was a follower of King William III of England (r. 1689–1702) who deposed King James II and VII in the Glorious Revolution. William, the Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, replaced James with the support of English Whigs. On ...
forces during the
War of the Two Kings The Williamite War in Ireland took place from March 1689 to October 1691. Fought between Jacobite supporters of James II and those of his successor, William III, it resulted in a Williamite victory. It is generally viewed as a related conflic ...
. After an uprising by Protestant inhabitants who expelled the
Irish Army The Irish Army () is the land component of the Defence Forces (Ireland), Defence Forces of Republic of Ireland, Ireland.The Defence Forces are made up of the Permanent Defence Forces – the standing branches – and the Reserve Defence Forces. ...
garrison, a larger force under
Justin McCarthy, Viscount Mountcashel Justin McCarthy, 1st Viscount Mountcashel, PC (Ire) ( – 1694), was a Jacobite general in the Williamite War in Ireland and a personal friend of James II. He commanded Irish Army troops during the conflict, enjoying initial success wh ...
arrived and retook the town. Sir John Moore, who was later leader of the British Army and was killed at the
Battle of Corunna The Battle of Corunna (or ''A Coruña'', ''La Corunna'', ''La Coruña'' or ''La Corogne''), in Spain known as Battle of Elviña, took place on 16 January 1809, when a French corps under Marshal of the Empire Jean de Dieu Soult attacked a Briti ...
in Spain in 1809, was governor of the town in 1798. In the 19th century, the town grew as a leading industrial centre which included brewing, tanning, distilling, corn and cotton milling. The now closed Allman's Distillery produced at one point over 600,000 gallons of whiskey annually. The
Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...
in the 1800s and the advent of the railways had a profound effect on the
socioeconomic Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...
and
cultural Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...
ecosystem of the area. Local
weaving Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal ...
operations could not compete with mass-produced cheap imports. St Peter's Church was built in 1847, and Bandon Town Hall was completed in 1862. Major General
Arthur Ernest Percival Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom), Lieutenant-General Arthur Ernest Percival, (26 December 1887 – 31 January 1966) was a British Army officer. He saw service in the World War I, First World War and built a successful military career during ...
was commander of the British garrison in Bandon in 1920–21 during the
Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence (), also known as the Anglo-Irish War, was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (1919–1922), Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and Unite ...
. He was subsequently the commanding officer of the British troops who surrendered Singapore to the Japanese forces in 1942. In 1945 he was invited by
Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American general who served as a top commander during World War II and the Korean War, achieving the rank of General of the Army (United States), General of the Army. He served with dis ...
to witness the surrender of Japanese forces in Tokyo in 1945 which ended the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. Irish army leader
Michael Collins Michael Collins or Mike Collins most commonly refers to: * Michael Collins (Irish leader) (1890–1922), Irish revolutionary leader, soldier, and politician * Michael Collins (astronaut) (1930–2021), American astronaut, member of Apollo 11 and Ge ...
was killed in an ambush at
Béal na Bláth Béal na Bláth or Béal na Blá (anglicised Bealnablath or Bealnabla) is a small village on the R585 road in County Cork, Ireland. The area is best known as the site of the ambush and death of the Irish revolutionary leader Michael Collins i ...
, about outside Bandon. Between 1911 and 1926, the non-Catholic population of Bandon dropped from 688 (22% of the population) to 375 (13% of the population), a decline of 45.5%. Peter Hart argued, in ''The IRA and its Enemies'' (1998), that during the
Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence (), also known as the Anglo-Irish War, was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (1919–1922), Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and Unite ...
, Bandon's
Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
population, which was largely unionist, suffered from
Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various Resistance movement, resistance organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dominantly Catholic and dedicated to anti-imperiali ...
(IRA) reprisals. In particular, ten Protestant men were shot over 27–29 April 1922 (two months before the start of the Civil War), "because they were Protestant." Niall Meehan argued, however (2008, 2014), that Hart was mistaken. The killings were not "motivated by either land agitation or by sectarian considerations." In ''Peter Hart, the Issue of Sources'', Brian Murphy noted a British intelligence assessment, ''A Record of the Rebellion in Ireland in 1920–1921'', that Hart cited selectively. Hart wrote, "the truth was that, as British intelligence officers recognised, "in the south the Protestants and those who supported the Government rarely gave much information because, except by chance, they had not got it to give".”. Murphy observed, "Hart does not give the next two sentences from the official Record which read":
an exception to this rule was in the Bandon area where there were many Protestant farmers who gave information. Although the Intelligence Officer of the area was exceptionally experienced and although the troops were most active it proved almost impossible to protect those brave men, many of whom were murdered while almost all the remainder suffered grave material loss.
Murphy, therefore, concluded in a 1998 review of Hart's research, "the IRA killings in the Bandon area were motivated by political and not sectarian considerations". He amended this in 2005 to "Possibly, military considerations, rather than political, would have been a more fitting way to describe the reason for the IRA response to those who informed." In 2013 Bandon Mayor Gillian Coughlan described a song about these historical events by Professor David Fitzpatrick of TCD as "insulting to the memory of people who fought and to people who died". Castle Bernard, the seat of Lord Bandon, was also burned in the Irish War of Independence. Bandon has been flooded many times over the years, including November 2009 when the river burst its banks, and December 2015 as a result of
Storm Desmond Storm Desmond was an extratropical cyclone and fourth named storm of the 2015–16 UK and Ireland windstorm season, notable for directing a plume of moist air, known as an atmospheric river, which brought record amounts of orographic rainfall ...
and Storm Frank. The Bandon Flood Relief Scheme was eventually finished in December 2022.


Twin city

Bandon has a twin city agreement with
Bandon, Oregon Bandon () is a city in Coos County, Oregon, Coos County, Oregon, United States, on the south side of the mouth of the Coquille River (Oregon), Coquille River. It was named by George Bennet, an Republic of Ireland, Irish peer, who settled nearby i ...
, in the United States. That city was founded in 1873 by Lord George Bennet, a native of the Irish Bandon who named the American one after it, and who is known especially for having introduced
gorse ''Ulex'' (commonly known as gorse, furze, or whin) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. The genus comprises about 20 species of thorny evergreen shrubs in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae. The species are na ...
into the US ecology with some disastrous results.


Transport

Bandon is 27 km southwest of
Cork City Cork ( ; from , meaning 'marsh') is the second-largest city in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the county town of County Cork, the largest city in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the List of settlements on the island of Ireland ...
, on the N71
national secondary road A national secondary road () is a category of road in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. These roads form an important part of the national route network but are secondary to the main arterial routes which are classified as national primary roads. Nat ...
, and served by
Bus Éireann Bus Éireann (; "Irish Bus") is a state-owned bus and coach operator providing services throughout Republic of Ireland, Ireland, with the exception of Dublin, where bus services are provided by sister company Dublin Bus. It is a subsidiary of C ...
bus services from Cork City. The nearest airport is
Cork Airport Cork Airport () is the second-largest international airport in the Republic of Ireland, after Dublin Airport, Dublin and ahead of Shannon Airport, Shannon. It is south of Cork (city), Cork City centre, in an area known as Farmers Cross. In ...
.


Sport

Sports clubs in the area include Bandon Rugby Football Club (inaugural winners of the 1886 Munster Senior Rugby Cup), Bandon Association Football Club (whose men's senior team play in the
Munster Senior League Senior Premier Division The Munster Senior League Senior Premier Division is the top division of the Munster Senior League (association football), Munster Senior League. It is organized by the Munster Football Association. Together with the Leinster Senior League Senior ...
), and
Bandon GAA Bandon GAA is a Gaelic football and Hurling club based in Bandon, County Cork, Bandon in County Cork, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The club is affiliated with Carbery GAA, Carbery division of Cork GAA, Cork. In 2007, Bandon won the West Cork J ...
(affiliated to the
Carbery GAA Carbery GAA is a Gaelic football and Hurling division in the south-west area of County Cork, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The division is one of eight divisions of Cork GAA, the Cork County Board and a division is responsible for organising co ...
division of
Cork GAA The Cork County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) () or Cork GAA is one of the 32 County board (Gaelic games), county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Cork and the Cork county teams. It ...
). Bandon AC is an
athletics club A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...
based in the area. There are also a number of martial arts clubs in the town, including
karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ), also , is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tī'' in Okinawan) un ...
,
taekwondo Taekwondo (; ; ) is a Korean martial art and combat sport involving primarily kicking techniques and punching. "Taekwondo" can be translated as ''tae'' ("strike with foot"), ''kwon'' ("strike with hand"), and ''do'' ("the art or way"). In ad ...
, Brazilian jiu-jitsu and other clubs. Bandon Golf Club is an 18-hole golf course on the grounds of Castle Bernard.


Education

There are four secondary schools in Bandon. One of these,
Bandon Grammar School Bandon Grammar School () is a Church of Ireland secondary school situated in Bandon, County Cork, Ireland. Established in 1642, it is one of the oldest schools in Ireland. General Bandon Grammar School is a co-educational, boarding and day s ...
, is a fee-paying Church of Ireland-ethos boarding school. The other schools are Hamilton High School, St. Brogan's College, and Coláiste na Toirbhirte (formerly known as Presentation Sisters College). Bandon Grammar School and St. Brogan's College are both mixed schools, Hamilton High School is a boys only school, and Coláiste na Toirbhirte is a girls only school.


Demographics

As of the 2022 census, Bandon had a usually resident population of 8,101. Of these, 67.4% identified as White Irish, 0.4% as White Irish Travellers and 20.8% as other white ethnicities. A further 1.2% identified as Black or Black Irish, 2.2% as Asian or Asian Irish and 3.0% as other ethnicities. 5.0% of the population did not state their ethnicity.


People

People from or associated with Bandon include : *
Graham Norton Graham William Walker (born 4 April 1963), known professionally as Graham Norton, is an Irish comedian, broadcaster, actor, and writer. He is a five-time BAFTA TV Award winner for the comedy chat show ''The Graham Norton Show'' (2007–present) ...
,
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
chat show host, lived in Bandon and attended
Bandon Grammar School Bandon Grammar School () is a Church of Ireland secondary school situated in Bandon, County Cork, Ireland. Established in 1642, it is one of the oldest schools in Ireland. General Bandon Grammar School is a co-educational, boarding and day s ...
. His mother still resides there. * Nicholas Brady, a poet known for the
Tate and Brady Tate and Brady refers to the collaboration of the poets Nahum Tate and Nicholas Brady, which produced one famous work, ''New Version of the Psalms of David'' (1696). This work was a metrical version of the Psalm The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ...
collaboration on a new version of the
Psalms The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament. The book is an anthology of B ...
, was born in Bandon in 1659. * George Bennett was born in Bandon in 1822. His 'History of Bandon' was published in 1869, and he founded the town of
Bandon, Oregon Bandon () is a city in Coos County, Oregon, Coos County, Oregon, United States, on the south side of the mouth of the Coquille River (Oregon), Coquille River. It was named by George Bennet, an Republic of Ireland, Irish peer, who settled nearby i ...
in 1873. * Henry Gosnold,
Chief Justice of Munster {{Use dmy dates, date=January 2018 The chief justice of Munster was the senior of the two judges who assisted the Lord President of Munster in judicial matters. Despite his title of Chief Justice, full judicial authority was vested in the lord pres ...
and friend of
Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England under King James I. Bacon argued for the importance of nat ...
, spent much of his life in Bandon, of which he became a burgess in 1612. * Attiwell Wood (c.1728-1784), a barrister and member of the
Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until the end of 1800. The upper house was the Irish House of Lords, House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, ...
, came from an old Bandon family. * Margaret Wolfe Hungerford, an author who wrote several
Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...
novels, lived in Bandon until her death of in 1897. *
Eugene O'Keefe Eugene O'Keefe (10 December 1827 – 1 October 1913), baptized as Owen Keeffe, was an Irish-born Canadians, Canadian businessman and philanthropist, well-known in the brewing industry for his signature brews. He incorporated the O'Keefe Brewe ...
(1827–1913), a brewer and businessman, emigrated to Toronto and established the O'Keefe Brewery *
Cornelius O'Sullivan Cornelius O'Sullivan, FRS (20 December 1841 – 8 January 1907) was an Irish brewer's chemist. He was born the son of merchant James O'Sullivan of Bandon, County Cork and was educated locally, before winning a scholarship to study chemistry at th ...
, a brewer's chemist, was born in Bandon in 1842 and in 1866 appointed assistant brewer and chemist to Bass & Co. * Sir George Strickland Kingston, who emigrated to
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
and became a
civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing i ...
,
architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
and politician, was born in Bandon in 1807. * Sir Richard Cox,
Lord Chancellor of Ireland The Lord High Chancellor of Ireland, commonly known as the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, was the highest ranking judicial office in Ireland until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. From 1721 until the end of 1800, it was also the hi ...
, was born in Bandon, 25 March 1650 * Joseph Brennan (1887–1963), Chairman of the
Currency Commission The Currency Commission (''Coimisiún an Airgid Reatha''), was created by thas part of the policy of the Irish Free State to create the ' Saorstát pound'. The Currency Commission commissioned the Series A Banknotes, through the advice of an advis ...
and
Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland The Central Bank of Ireland () is the national central bank for Ireland within the Eurosystem. It was the Irish central bank from 1943 to 1998, issuing the Irish pound. It is also the country's main financial regulatory authority, and since 20 ...
* Rev. James Long, an Anglican priest and orientalist who published the first English translation of the Bengali play ''
Nil Darpan ''Nil Darpan'' (Bengali: নীল দর্পণ, ''The Indigo Mirror'') is a Bengali-language play written by Dinabandhu Mitra in 1858–1859. The play was essential to ''Nil Vidroha'', better known as the Indigo Revolt of February–March ...
'' * Lloyd Jones (socialist),
Cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomy, autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned a ...
Society activist, four times President of the
Co-operative Congress The Co-operative Congress is the national conference of the UK Co-operative Movement. The first of the modern congresses took place in 1869 following a series of meetings called the " Owenite Congress" in the 1830s. Members of Co-operatives UK ...
, was born in Bandon in 1811 *
Robert Baldwin Sullivan Robert Baldwin Sullivan, (May 24, 1802 – April 14, 1853), was an Irish-Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician who became the second Mayor of Toronto, Upper Canada. Career In 1835, he was elected to Toronto City Council of the year-old city o ...
, second mayor of Toronto (1834–1839). * Brian Crowley,
Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil ( ; ; meaning "Soldiers of Destiny" or "Warriors of Fál"), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (), is a centre to centre-right political party in Ireland. Founded as a republican party in 1926 by Éamon de ...
MEP for the
South (European Parliament constituency) South is a European Parliament constituencies in the Republic of Ireland, European Parliament constituency in Ireland. It elects 5 Member of the European Parliament, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) using proportional representation by ...
. * Graham Dwyer, grew up in Bandon. He was convicted in 2015 of the murder of Dublin social worker Elaine O'Hara. *
Conor Hourihane Conor Geraroid Hourihane () (born 2 February 1991) is an Irish Football coach (association football), football coach and former Football player, player who played as a central midfielder, midfielder. He is currently the head coach of club Barns ...
, footballer and midfielder at
Aston Villa F.C. Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional Association football, football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English foot ...


See also

*
Bandonbridge (Parliament of Ireland constituency) Bandonbridge was a constituency represented in the Irish House of Commons until its abolition on 1 January 1801. Borough This constituency was a parliamentary borough based in the town of Bandon, County Cork, Bandon in County Cork. Following ...
*
Bandon (UK Parliament constituency) Bandon may refer to: Places * Hundred of Bandon, a cadastral unit in South Australia * Bandon (UK Parliament constituency), a former constituency (1801–1885) in Ireland * Bandon, County Cork, Ireland, a town * River Bandon, in Ireland * Bandon Ba ...
* Kilbrogan House * List of towns and villages in Ireland


References


External links


Irish Historic Towns Atlas Online: Bandon
by Patrick O'Flanagan for the
Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the natural sciences, arts, literature, and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned society and one of its le ...

Bandon.ie
{{Authority control Towns and villages in County Cork Populated places established in 1604 1604 establishments in the British Empire Former boroughs in the Republic of Ireland