Bandon – A quick history lesson from the Bandon 400 web-site

To Elizabeth's plantation policy, after the Desmond rebellion, Bandon owes its origin. In the Bandon area the O'Mahonys, who supported this rebellion, were uprooted from their castle at Castle Mahon (later Castle Bernard). Their lands in the Bandon area in the barony of Kinalmeaky were confiscated. This land was given to the English undertaker Phane Beecher. In 1604 Phane Becher's son leased all this land to Captain William Newce and John Archdeacon. Newce's land was to the north of the river.

Around this time the town was being developed to the east of the castle. Houses were built on flat land on both sides of the river. The material used for the building of the houses was mainly wood as there was a plentiful supply of trees along the river valley. A stone gable was constructed. Later a street pattern developed. All the streets faced their backs to the river itself. Several bridges, over a period of time, were built crossing the river and the town became known as Bandon-Bridge or in Irish Droichead Na Banndan.

In 1613 and 1619 the First Earl of Cork, Richard Boyle, purchased the former owner's interest in the town of Bandon and by 1625 Boyle was the sole owner of the town on both sides of the river. He never lived in Bandon but in Youghal. In 1613 James 1 granted a charter to Bandon and a Council was set up consisting of a Provost and eleven Burgesses. Two members from Bandon attended the Irish Parliament in 1613. Boyle set about to develop his new town and induced several Puritan families from England, mainly Somerset, to Bandon. He built new houses and set about building the town walls and gates. The walls began in 1613 and were completed by 1625. Very few traces of the walls can be seen to day, as the original walls did not last long.

Boyle developed all his new lands in Ireland by promoting agriculture, mining and milling. The river Bandon and its tributary the Bridewell provided power for the mills. The first mill was at Coolfada where a weir was constructed to harness the water. To day this weir is used to generate electricity. There were many trades in Bandon and a lot of these were based on the rich fertile agriculture lands along the river valley. Bandon town was very dependent on agriculture. Agriculture based products such as meat, butter and corn were mainly exported through the port of Kinsale and merchants imported wines, spices, sugar and tobacco.) etc. The Bandon Militia was formed for the defense of the settlement. Bandon also had important juridical functions with courthouses on each side of the river.

In 1622 there were about 250 houses in Bandon. Boyle funded all the public buildings in the town such as the Market Houses.) the Churches, the schools, the prison and of course the town walls and gates.

As Bandon developed on both sides of the river it had two of every thing such as market houses, churches etc. The north side of Bandon was in Kilbrogan parish and the south side in Ballymodan parish.


In 1748 when Charlotte Boyle married William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire, part of the town became the property of the Duke of Devonshire. Their residence in Ireland is Lismore Castle, Co. Waterford. The Bernard family who later became the Earls of Bandon occupied Castle Mahon and renamed it Castle Bernard. It was burnt during the War of Independence in 1921. The eighteenth-century saw an upsurge of industries in Bandon such as cotton milling, woolen, brewing, distilling baking, printing etc. George Allman's very large but short lived cotton mill opened in c. 1804 at Overton outside Bandon. In 1825 George Allman and his sons began whiskey making at Monorone (now part of Bandon Mart). Religion and Education also played an important part in nineteenth Bandon. From 1820 onwards Bandon population began to fall.

The first train arrived in Bandon in 1849 and the West Cork railway closed in 1961.