Bantry Bay
Bantry Bay | |
---|---|
Bá Bheanntraí | |
Location | County Cork |
Coordinates | 51°39′N 9°43′W / 51.650°N 9.717°W |
Ocean/sea sources | Atlantic Ocean |
Basin countries | Ireland |
Max. length | 35 km (22 mi) |
Max. width | 10 km (6 mi) |
Islands | Bere Island, Garnish Island, Whiddy Island |
Settlements | Adrigole, Bantry, Ballylickey, Castletownbere, Glengarriff |
Bantry Bay (Irish: Bá Bheanntraí)[1] is a bay located in County Cork, Ireland. The bay runs approximately 35 km (22 mi) from northeast to southwest into the Atlantic Ocean. It is approximately 3-to-4 km (1.8-to-2.5 miles) wide at the head and 10 km (6.2 mi) wide at the entrance.
Geographic features
Bantry Bay is a
Whiddy Island is at the head of the bay near the south shore. It is the main petroleum terminus for Ireland, the harbour ideally suited for large oceangoing tankers. A Single Point Mooring (SPM) at the Whiddy Island oil terminal is operated by Zenith Energy, Ltd. Bantry Bay was featured during a famous Gulf Oil commercial showing the supertanker "Universe Kuwait" that aired during the time of the Apollo Moon landing in 1969.
Towns and villages around the bay include:
History
Battle of Bantry Bay
The Battle of Bantry Bay occurred in 1689, during the Nine Years' War, between English and French fleets.[2]
Rebellion of 1798
The town of
Bantry Longboat/Bere Island Longboat
A longboat used in a French scouting expedition landed in Bere Island and lay in Berehaven harbour for 102 years. It was taken to Bantry House in 1898, moved from Bantry House to Dublin in 1944 and was presented to the
Betelgeuse disaster
On 8 January 1979, 50 people were killed when a French oil tanker, the Betelgeuse, was offloading at Whiddy Island when it caught fire, exploded, and broke into three pieces. The bay has had numerous shipwrecks over the years. In 1981, while cleanup efforts using sonar sweeps for the Betelgeuse were under way, the wreck of the French frigate La Surveillante, which had been scuttled during a storm north of Whiddy Island on 2 January 1797, was found.
Rescue services
Bantry Inshore Search and Rescue Association (BISRA) provides an emergency lifeboat service to the Bantry Harbour community. Equipped with a high speed rescue RIB BISRA is a declared resource of the Irish Coastguard.
Geographical stats
- United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) code: IEBYT
References
- ^ "Bá Bheanntraí/Bantry Bay". Placenames Database of Ireland. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
- ISBN 978-0-7858-3553-0. Archivedfrom the original on 25 September 2021. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
- ^ English, Eoin (19 July 2012). "Hundreds of sailors to celebrate Bantry longboat". Irish Examiner. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 22 February 2014.