the added portierre, with pompeiian floor tiles!

The gardens also date from the second Earl of Bantry. During his travels, he collected notes and plans of gardens areound the world, intent on creating the luxurious gardnes of a Roman palazzo. The entire site was terraced into seven levels (the house is on the third, more formal gardens run to the shore in front of the house) The gardens were designed along with the house, to ensure that htey were a single unit.

outbuildings, fallen into disrepair

Also on the grounds are older buildings (used as barns and outbuildings now) which are overgrown and no longer in use. They may have been occupied in the 20s, when the owner of the house offered it as a hospital during the civil war, or later in WWII when it housed the Second Cyclist Squadron of the Irish Army for a time.

one of the symmetrical gardens in frontof the house

Recent excavations on the front lawns have revealed some interesting history. The remains of a medieval Gaelic village have been found, as well as the scant remains of a 17th century fishing village. Most of the front of the house is done in simple garden beds, and the view from the covered porch out over Bantry Bay is worth a stop.

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