Having left Tim Healy's birthplace, we moved on down the street to our second landmark which now J.J Crowley's bar, but was once Lannin's Hotel. Here, we met the owner, J.J himself and two of his locals, Peter Downey and Téde Shanahan, who happen top have a great interest in local history.
J.J told us that his grandfather had purchased the hotel in October 1892. Many famous people stayed at the hotel, especially poets and writers. He mentioned especially Thomas Davis and Denny Lane, who used to go to the Baykeen (overlooking the strand) and also up to Vaughan's pass (overlooking the town) to compose their poetry. Thomas Davis is supposed to have said that "There are two wonders of the world - Bantry Bay and the Bay of Naples".
Peter Downey recited some lines of poetry by Thomas Davis:
"Shall they bury me in the deep?,
Where the wine forgetting waters sleep,
Shall they dig a grave for me,
Beneath the Greenwood tree,Or on the wild heath,
Where the wild breath of the storm doth blow,
Oh no, oh no, no no
On an Irish green hillside,
On an open lawn, though not too wide,
I love the drip of wetted trees,
I love not the gales but a gentle breeze,
To freshen the turf,
but no tombstone there,
But green sods decked with daisies fair,
Nor sods too deep that the dew,
The matted grass roots may trickle through,
Be my epitaph writ on my country's mind,
He served his country and he loved his kind,
Oh willingly to the grave I'd go,
If I were sure to be buried so.
Flooding
Mr. Crowley said that it was an advantage to be located on the Square, especially on Fair Day. However he also talked about flooding being the main disadvantage. For example he remembers having to go up on the table in the kitchen to avoid the water. In 1937 there was a really bad flood because not only did the water from the Bay come up but also the water came down the river also from the millstream.
A very well known businessman known as Mr.Vickery, when he saw his business flooded, he got a heart attack and died. The local county council workers had to burst the quay wall to relieve the flooding in the square.He said that the newly designed square has prevented this for a few years, but "it has started again this year".
Fair Day
Mr. Downey remembered about Fair Day in the square. He remembered the deals being made between the farmers and the buyer. The tangler was a great help; he was a sort of a go between. Then there was Pee Aa Dee, who was a strong man who used to balance a wheel of a common car on his jaw and he would lay on a board of nails. He would also eat razor blades.There were also the clothes sellers, song sellers and of course the three card trick men who tried to catch people out. Dues were collected on the cattle by Bantry House (the local McCarthy butchers used to collect them). We had been planning a sketch and this information was just what we needed!
Whiddy Island
Mr. Shanahan was a native of Whiddy Island but he has lived now for some years on the mainland. He remembered that cattle used to swim out from the Island to the fair. He told us the tale of the Whiddy horse that was sold to a Kealkil farmer but on the very next day the horse had swum back to the Island and found its own way home. In fact when we checked out this information we discovered that the horse in question belonged to the grandfather of one of the boys in our class, Sean Burke.
When he was young there were 65 pupils going to the Island's school (now it's closed). There were about 150 people living on the Island.
He also told us about the Coffin Stone and also about the witch who jumped from Hungry Hill. He enjoyed telling the story about the Cailleach Beara who lived for one year on the Caha range of mountains (North of the Bay). There are now 365 lakes on the mountain...Why?
In the 1800's he remembered that there was a deer farm on the island in the townland of Tranaha and also coursing for hares was very important. His story of how the petrol spill in Bantry Bay helped the election of De Valera was very interesting.
The Great Donal Cam
We asked him if he had any information on the great Donal Cam and he told us about the night when Donal Cam's wife was being buried. Donal Cam had been fishing in Glengarriff and he didn't know that his wife had been killed at Carrignass Castle (in Kealkil) by the British St. Ledger. He was travelling back from Glengarriff when he saw the funeral eight's mooring along by Reendonnegan lake and he exclaimed:
"On yonder shore that means the light,
that flings its murky flame,
Tonight along the margins of the ocean,
It moves with slow and steady motion"
He followed the corpse all the way to the Abbey, and only then did he find out that it was his wife. He went all the way out to Carrignass Castle, found St. Ledger and murdered him.
Lousy Island
Mr. Shanahan then told us how Lousy Island got its name. A French princess eloped with one of the O' Sullivan Bearas to this island. Her name was Louise and they lived together on Lousy Island - the island is called after her.
When Mr. Downey realised that one of us was called David Keane, he suggested that David may be related to the Keanes who once owned the Bantry Bay Hotel. We decided there and then that we should pay a visit to the Bantry Bay Hotel to track down David's ancestors.
We thanked them for all their very interesting stories, songs and poetry and we were on our way.