RENAME THE GULF OF MEXICO ‘THE GULF OF IRELAND’? Was St Brendan the first European to reach America?

RENAME THE GULF OF MEXICO ‘THE GULF OF IRELAND’? Was St Brendan the first European to reach America?

Join us and discover beautiful beaches, rugged landscapes, pretty towns, desolate mountain ranges that sweep down to stunning lakes, unique architecture, history and folklore, no shamrocks, no challes, and definitely no shenanigans. Just make it Ireland. So, here we are in Bantry Town on beautiful Bantry Bay. And as you can see, the sun’s getting low in the sky. It’s an October evening and the light’s absolutely fabulous. Look how it plays on the colors of the buildings. [Music] Now, the light’s actually so spectacular that you might be thinking that I’m using some kind of filter to film this or that I’ve colorized it in post-prouction. No filters and no coloring in this film. Pure raw footage. Isn’t it amazing? Well, if you think this is spectacular, stick around to the end of the film where I’m on the way out of the town and I take some footage of the beautiful bay area that turned out totally gorgeous. So, stay tuned for that. [Music] In the meantime, as always, I’m going to park up here and then we’ll get out and have a walk around so you can see this fantastic place. And this spot’s perfect just overlooking Bantry Harbor. So, first we’ll walk along the key towards the town square. And as we go, you can see that there’s lots of places to eat along here. And a little further on, we arrive at Wutone Square. And that’s the figure of Theobal Wolf Tone right in front of us. Now, Wu was of course the leader of the 1798 United Irishman rising. In every video I make on Irish towns, I seem to keep returning to this date of 1798 as many of these towns have some sort of commemoration to the United Irishman. Bantry is no different. except that this entire square is dedicated to woof home. And after driving in through those narrow streets, it’s really beautiful. Surprising in fact, when you finally open up onto this expansive square. Now, this is interesting. And it connects with the statue of Wolf Tong that we’ve just seen. This is an from one of the French ships that was lost off Witty Island just out there in Bantry Bay back in 1798. Wu was on board this Armada of 43 ships with nearly 15,000 French troops ready to fight the British, but due to storms they couldn’t land on this occasion. All right, we’ll take a little walk up New Street and get a little introduction to this town. So, Bantry, for those of you who don’t know, is in West Cork and so in the southwest of Ireland. It sits at the head of Bantry Bay, which is a deep water gulf, 30 kilometers in length. Perfect, you’d think, for the landing of Wolfton’s French ships. I guess the weather forecasts in those days weren’t so good. And you can see the anchor tavern over there celebrating in its name, the Armada anchor we’ve just seen. Incidentally, Wu did manage to land 2 years later in Donny Glaw, but was captured immediately by the British and sentenced to be hanged. He reportedly cut his own throat before they could get the noose around it. So again, as we’ve come to expect in these provincial Irish towns, lovely well preserved shop fronts painted in nice colors and lots of places to eat. It’s not quite dinner time yet. [Music] But the nautical tales don’t stop with Wolfton’s escapades. In fact, in the sixth century, St. Brandon is reputed to have sealed the America from this very harbor. Now, that’s quite a bit before Columbus. So whether corroborated or not, let’s assume that the Irish were the first Europeans to reach the Americas. I think we should rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of Ireland. That sort of thing seems popular nowadays. And wow, look at Murphy’s. That looks like a good place. Incidentally, on the subject of pubs, if you’re a regular viewer, you probably know by now that you can buy me a paint by means of a donation to the channel. Donations, large and small, are so useful in keeping these videos coming, and it’s so easy to do. You just click on the link in the second paragraph of the description beneath this video and that’ll take you straight to the donation page. It helps so much with cost of production. [Music] Now, there’s some smallcale industry in Balry, too, although it’s no longer a fishing port. Nevertheless, muscles are farmed nearby. But, as you probably gather, tourism is the town’s main industry these days. Obviously, we’re offse at the moment, but in the summer, you wouldn’t be able to move here for tourists. It’s so nice to have a place to ourselves today. Now, during the summer, there are two important festivals that take place here that you might want to be aware of. The West Court Chamber Music Festival and the West Cork Literary Festival. These festivals use various venues throughout the town and are truly international in their scope. So, maybe you’d like to plan your trip to coincide with one of these. And if you want to use the town as a base for exploring the West Cork region, or indeed the southwest of Ireland, then it’s excellent for that. You have the Barra Peninsula to the northwest and Sheep’s Head Peninsula to the southwest. So, lots of nice beaches to discover. Please take a second now to give the film a like if it’s been informative or even mildly entertaining. And please subscribe to the channel. It’s a win-win. It helps the channel grow and you’ll also get more Naked Ireland stuff recommended to you which you can choose to click on or ignore. But I’d love you to see more of my videos. So please subscribe and hit the bell icon while you’re at it. I just think this is such a well-kept town. People seem to take such pride in their houses and businesses, and the streets are so clean. Maybe you’ll want to move here. There could be a wee bit of rain on the way, you know, with those dark clouds up ahead, but the sky looks so amazing. Sure. What’s a bit of rain? And if there are any Bostononians watching, there you go. Just for you guys. Yeah, it’s where I used a filter to get that sky color. I promise you I haven’t. Now, in 1689, a Jacobite army officer called John Stevens described Bantry as a miserable, poor place hardly worth the name of a town. So, it’s important, I always think, when we’re discussing the glamour of these places to remember that these Irish towns came from very humble beginnings. Another piece of trivia if you happen to be interested in traditional Irish music. The famous Chicago police superintendent and collector of Irish tunes, Francis O’Neal, comes from just outside Bantry. He’s been described as the greatest individual influence on the evolution of Irish traditional dance music in the 20th century. Okay, so I’m heading out of Bantry now along the N71, but stick around. As I mentioned at the start of the video, the best is yet to come. No shortage of restaurants here as you can see. [Music] And to the right here we have the 40 birth marina. Maybe even want a seal here in your boat. Now look at this. This is what I’m talking about. Isn’t it amazing? Total peace and tranquility. The sky’s reflection in the calm water. Looking at the clouds, I’m wondering if it’s the calm before the storm. [Music] So, I thought it’d be great to end this film with this beautifully serene footage of the seascape here. [Music] And that’s Bantry Abby Cemetery up there. Not a bad final resting place. And I wonder how many in the cemetery lost their lives carving out their living, fishing in these waters. [Music] Anyway, I hope you’ve enjoyed Bantry. I certainly have. And I’ll see you all soon in the next Make It Ireland. [Music]

Were the Irish the first Europeans to reach America? Aule St Brendan was quite the sailer!

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We visit Wolf Tone Square, and the statue of Theobald Wolf Tone. Wolf Tone was of course the leader of the 1798 United Irishmen rising. In every video I make on Irish towns I seem to keep returning to this date of 1798, as many of these town have some sort of commemoration to the United Irishmen. Bantry is no different, except that this entire square on the quay is dedicated to Wolf Tone. We also pass an anchor from one of the French ships that was lost off Whiddy Island in Bantry Bay, back in 1796. Wolf Tone was on board this armada of 43 ships with nearly 15,000 french troops, ready to fight the British, but due to storms they couldn’t land on this occasion. Wolf Tone is reported to have said that “England had had its luckiest escape since the Armada” referring to the Spanish Armada that threatened England over 2 centuries earlier.

So Bantry is in West Cork and, so the south west of Ireland. It sits at the head of Bantry Bay, which is a deep water gulf 30kms in length. Perfect, you’d think, for the landing of Wolf Tone’s French ships. Incidentally Wolf Tone did manage to land two years later in Donegal, but was captured immediately by the British and sentenced to be hanged. He reportedly cut his own throat before they could get the noose around it.

But the nautical tales don’t stop with Wolf Tone’s escapades. In fact in the sixth century Saint Brendan is reputed to have sailed to America from this very harbour. Now that’s quite a bit before Columbus. So, whether corroborated or not, let’s assume that the Irish were the first Europeans to reach the Americas. I think we should rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of Ireland? That sort of thing seems popular nowadays.

There’s some small scale industry in Bantry too, although it’s no longer a fishing port. Nevertheless muscles are farmed nearby. But as you’ve probably gathered, tourism is the towns main industry these days.

During the summer there are two important festivals that take place here that you might want to be aware of: the West Cork Chamber Music Festival and the West Cork Literary Festival. These festivals use various venues throughout the town and are truly international in their scope. So maybe you’d like to plan your trip to coincide with one of these?

If you want to use the town as a base for exploring the West Cork region, or indeed the South West of Ireland, then it’s excellent for that. You have the Beara Peninsula to the northwest and Sheep’s Head Peninsula to the southwest. So lots of nice beaches to discover.

IN 1689 a jacobite army officer called John Stevens described Bantry as “a miserable poor place hardly worth the name of a town. So it’s important, I always think, when we’re discussing the glamour of these places, to remember that these Irish towns came from very humble beginnings.

Another piece of trivia if you happen to be interested in traditional Irish music. The famous Chicago Police Superintendent and collector of Irish tunes, Francis O’Neill comes from just outside Bantry. He’s been described as “the greatest individual influence on the evolution of Irish traditional dance music in the 20th Century.