Bantry Town Square

When I first arrived at the town of Bantry in county Cork. I parked the car at the town square. It is a large plaza in front of Bantry Harbor. I thought it was very impressive that the town was able to build such a large square considering the size of the town. I would argue that the square is disproportionately large compared to the town itself. But it is a nice luxury to have such space in the middle of town. Actually, not all of this was square before. It used to be that the harbor extends all the way here but over the years, they decided to fill up this part of the harbor and turn it in to a very large square.

I can’t remember if I have seen a square as large as this one in Ireland. There are a few parks in Dublin which are described to be squares but I don’t think I would even consider those squares. Anyway, like any other square, there would be open markets on the weekends here, normally. But this is the time of pandemic and so there won’t be any open markets anytime soon. The park is pleasant enough but it bothers me that there is so much traffic that goes around the square. There is a statue of Theobald Wolfe Tone, one of the main proponents of a rebellion which fizzled out because of bad weather. There is an old anchor which belonged to one of the French ships which were supposed to support the Irish in the planned rebellion. There are seats here for people who want to come but I would recommend just walking further on and walk along the harbor instead.

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