A Future for Irish Historic Houses - Irish Heritage Trust

Bantry House, Co. Cork
Bantry House is located on the outskirts of the town of Bantry in County Cork. It is
owned by Egerton Shelswell White whose ancestors first built it in the early
eighteenth century:
- The original house dates back to around 1720. Modifications were carried
out between 1820 and 1830. Victorian additions were added between 1840
and 1850. The architectural wholeness represents three distinct phases.
- The house continues to house a very important collection of contents,
including a large collection of French, Flemish and Irish furniture, Gobelin
tapestries, floor tiling from Pompeii and Savonnerie carpets. Most of the
furniture and works of art were collected by 2 nd earl of Bantry during his
continental tours in the first half of the nineteenth century.
- The hall is a veritable treasure trove of bric-a-brac illustrative of the
benefits of continental tours to Irish houses.
- The dining-room is dominated by copies of Allan Ramsay’s full-length
portraits of George III and Queen Charlotte. Family portraits.
- The Italianate gardens with magnificent terraces on the hillside behind the
house offering a stunning view across Bantry Bay. The gardens have been
restored as a result of funding provided by the European Regional
Development Fund through the Great Gardens of Ireland Restoration
Scheme administered by Bord Failte.
- In the 1940s, Bantry was probably the first Irish country house to be
opened to the public.
Between 1986 and 1988 a large area of the house (the entire east wing and the upper
floor of the west wing) that had been unoccupied since the 1940s was restored. The
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