Bandon, County Cork

Bandon Irish: Droichead na Bandan
County Cork
Oliver Plunkett Street
Location
Grid reference:	W488551
Location:	51°44’46"N, 8°44’6"W
Data
Population:	6,957  (2016)
Postcode:	P72
Local Government
Dáil constituency:	Cork South-West
Website:	www.bandon.ie

Bandon is a town in County Cork, on the River Bandon sitting between two hills. The name in Irish is Droichead na Bandan, which means 'Bridge of the Bandon', a reference to the origin of the town as a crossing-point on the river. The town, sometimes called 'The Gateway to West Cork'.

The village had a population of 6,957 at the 2016 census.

History

In September 1588, at the start of the Plantation of Munster, 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, 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, although he was not, as he liked to claim, its "founder". Christ Church, Kilbrogan, is the oldest church in Bandon, and also the oldest purpose-built post-Reformation Protestant church in Ireland.

In 1689 the town was the scene of a clash between Jacobite and Williamite forces during the War of the Two Kings. After an uprising by Protestant inhabitants who expelled Kimg James's Irish Army garrison, a larger force under Justin MacCarthy arrived and retook the town.

Sir John Moore, who was later commander of the British Army and was killed at the Battle of Corunna 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 in the 1800s and the advent of the railways had a profound effect on the socioeconomic and cultural ecosystem of the area. Local weaving operations could not compete with mass-produced cheap imports.

Main Street, Bandon, c.1900

Major General Arthur Ernest Percival was commander of the British garrison in Bandon in 1920–21 during the Irish War of Independence. He was subsequently the commanding officer of the British troops who surrendered Singapore to the Japanese forces in 1941. In 1945 he was invited by Douglas MacArthur to witness the surrender of Japanese forces in Tokyo in 1945 which ended the Second World War. Irish army leader Michael Collins was killed in an ambush at Béal na Bláth, about six miles outside Bandon.

Between 1911 and 1926, the Protestant population of Bandon dropped from 688 (22% of the population) to 375 (13% of the population). Peter Hart argued in The IRA and its Enemies (1998) that during the Irish War of Independence, Bandon's Protestant population, which was largely unionist, suffered from bloody reprisals by the Irish Republican Army . 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."

Castle Bernard, the seat of Lord Bandon, was also burned in the Irish War of Independence.

Festivals

Local festivals include the Bandon Summer Fest - a family festival run by volunteers over the August Bank Holiday weekend. The Bandon Music Festival takes place every June Bank Holiday weekend, and has included acts like Mick Flannery, Mundy, The Flaws, Jack L, Fred and The Delerentos.^{[citation needed]} The Bandon Walled Town Festival runs every year on the last weekend of August, and celebrates the heritage of the town with cultural and family entertainment.^{[citation needed]}

Sports and community groups

• Football: Bandon AFC
• Gaelic sports: Bandon GAA
• Golf: Bandon Golf Club, is an 18-hole golf course on the grounds of Castle Bernard
• Rugby: Bandon R.F.C.
• Tennis; Bandon Tennis Club

Minor spots clubs include:

• Martial arts:
  • Bandon Shotokan Karate Club at the Town Hall
  • Warrior Martial Arts Bandon (taekwondo) at Gaelscoil Dhroichead na Banndan,
  • Brazilian Jiu Jitsu at Studio Galera
  • [Muay Thai at Brucie's Gym

Media

A monthly community magazine, "The Opinion", is published locally.

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Bandon, County Cork)

• Irish Historic Towns Atlas Online: Bandon by Patrick O'Flanagan for the Royal Irish Academy
• Bandon.ie