Bandon, County Cork

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Bandon
Droichead na Bandan

Location

WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates:
51.745207° N 8.735933° W

Irish Grid Reference
W488551

Statistics

70 m (229 ft)

Population (2002)
- Town:
- Rural:

1,578
3,583

Website: www.bandon.ie

Bandon (Droichead na Bandan in Irish) is a town in County Cork, Ireland. With a population of 5,161 as of census 2002, Bandon lies on the River Bandon between two hills. The name in Irish means "Bridge of the Bandon", a reference to the origin of the town as a crossing-point on the river. In 2004 Bandon celebrated its quatercentenary. Bandon is sometimes called the "Gateway to West Cork".

1 History
2 Festival
3 Twin city
4 Economy
5 Transport & communications
6 People
7 Sport
8 See also
9 External links

[edit] History

Bandon was founded as a plantation town in the early 1600s by Phane Beecher.Originally it was inhabitated solely by members of the Protestant religious sects. It was know as Sir John Moore later leader of the British Army who was killed in the Peninsular War in Corunna Spain in 1803, was one time governor of the town in the late 1790s. Major General Arthur Ernest Percival was commander of the British garrison in Bandon in 1920-21 during the Irish War of Independence. He was subsequently the commanding officer of the British troops who surrendered Singapore to the Japanese forces in 1941. In 1945 he was invited by Douglas MacArthur to witness the surrender of Japanese forces in Tokyo in 1945 which ended the Second World War. Irish army leader Michael Collins was killed in an ambush at Béal na mBláth, about 6 miles outside Bandon. Though this history is a history of tenuous association there are more humourous tales from the ranks of Bandons own citizens.

[edit] Festival

Bandon Summer Fest is a family orientated festival run by a volunteer committee held over the August Bank Holiday weekend.

[edit] Twin city

Bandon has a twin city agreement with Bandon, Oregon in the US. That city was founded in 1873 by Lord George Bennet, a native of the Irish Bandon who named the American one after it, and who is known espcially for having introduced gorse into the US ecology with some disastrous results.

[edit] Economy

The one time beef industry center for the southern part of Ireland. Other Industries in Bandon include Acorn Water - Ireland's leading water treatment company- they offer a range of office water coolers and water testing services as well as chemicals for water and waste-water treatment.

[edit] Transport & communications

Bandon is located 27 km southwest of Cork City, on the N71 road
Nearest airport Cork International Airport

[edit] People

Notable local figures include:

Jeremiah Holland, a life-long resident, anthropologist, biologist and bicyclist. Jeremiah remains an active community member.
Comedian/ TV presenter Graham Norton, who was born and raised in Bandon.
Sir George Strickland Kingston, who immigrated to Australia and became a prominent civil engineer, architect and politician.

[edit] Sport

You will find sport aplenty with golf, tennis, GAA, Hockey and Rugby clubs; the river is popular among fishermen who are content to while the hours away "fishing". Darts and ring throwing are also popular and the town has a snooker with two full sized tables. If Bandon could ever be described as an oasis it would surely only be one to the avid sports fan. Here's a facinating sound byte worthy of any conversation amongs sports fans when discussing the town of Bandon:

Bandon Rugby Football Club were the inaugural winners of the Munster Senior Rugby Cup in when they defeated Garryowen Football Club in the final in 1886.