Bantry House and Gardens is a stately home in extensive grounds overlooking Bantry Bay. It houses an important private collection of furniture and objects of art. The home of the White family since 1739, it was opened to the public in 1946. The Rooska Loop Walk takes you past the house and through the gardens. You can enter from either the East Gate entrance close to Bantry town centre or by the Main Entrance further west on the sea front. Courtesy of NIAH: Detached five-bay two-storey country house over basement, built c.1710, with later six-bay two-storey bow-ended additions over basement, built 1820, to east and west and later six-bay two-storey addition over basement with pair of four-bay three-storey bow-ended wings, built 1845, to south. Later porticos to east and west elevations.

Bantry House dominates the landscape on the southern shore of Bantry Bay with commanding views of Whiddy Island and the Caha Mountains. The house was first built on this site by the Hutchinson family in the early eighteenth century and since then has grown considerably, particularly under Richard White, 2nd Earl of Bantry in the mid-nineteenth century. Despite the many phases of additions and extensions, the structure displays architectural unity through the pilasters and stone balustrade. The original structure displays a Queen Anne style with later Georgian and Victorian elements also present. The architectural designs of the phased construction draw classical architecture, exhibited in its ornate porticos, columns and pilasters. The retention of original features enhances the buildings appearance with each element working together to give a greater architectural significance to the building. The interior retains much fabric of great interest and significance, including Pompeii tiling, Venetian glass and Italian plasterwork. The building is an outstanding example of the evolution of large country houses through time and its forms part of an interesting complex of demesne related structures with the outbuildings, gate lodges and extensively landscaped gardens.
External Links:
https://www.bantryhouse.com/
http://www.buildingsofireland.ie/niah/search.jsp?type=record&county=CO®no=20911812