Bantry House

Bantry House has belonged to the White family since 1739 and is still lived in by their descendants, which is unusual and shows in the atmosphere - it is a family house shown to visitors rather than a museum. Richard White, the second Earl of Bantry, spent the 1820s and 30s travelling in Europe and buying: Aubusson and Gobelins tapestries, Russian icons, Pompeian mosaics, Italian and French furniture, much of it acquired as continental aristocratic collections were broken up after the Napoleonic wars, and it is all still in the rooms. Behind the house the Italianate garden rises in terraces with the Hundred Steps climbing the hill to a view straight down over the house and out along Bantry Bay. The first earl earned the title by raising the alarm in 1796 when a French invasion fleet carrying Wolfe Tone anchored in the bay and was scattered by storms without landing.

What you actually see

• The 1820s collection - tapestries, mosaics and furniture bought across Europe.
• The Hundred Steps - climbing the terraced garden behind the house.
• The bay view - from the top of the steps, over the roof and out to sea.
• The family occupation - still lived in by the Whites' descendants.

When to go

April to October; the house closes for winter. The gardens are best from May. Chamber music festivals are held here in summer.

Honest expectations

Seasonal opening only. Parts of the house are private and not shown. The Hundred Steps are steep and the terraces need mobility. Ticketed, with garden-only entry cheaper.

Nearby

Bantry town is beside the gates; Glengarriff and the Beara peninsula are north-west.