BANTRY  , a seaport,

market-town and seaside resort of Co . Cork, Ireland, in the west parliamentary division, 58 m . S.W. of Cork by the Cork, Bandon & South Coast railway, on the bay of the same name . Pop . (1901) 3109 . It is an important centre both for sea fisheries and for sport with the rod . It is the ter-minus of the railway, and a coaching station on the famous " Prince of Wales " route (named after King Edward VII.) from Cork to Glengarriff and Killarney . The bay, with excellent anchorage, is a picturesque inlet some 22 M. long by 3 to 6 broad, with 12 to 32 fathoms of water . It is one of the headquarter stations of the Channel Squadron, which uses the harbour at Castletown Bearhaven on the northern shore, behind Bear Island, near the mouth of the bay . It was the scene of attempts by the French to invade Ireland in 1689 and 1796, and troops of William of Orange were landed here in 1697 . There are several islands, the principal of which are Bear Island and Whiddy, off the town . Ruins of the so-called " fish palaces " testify to the failure of the pilchard fishery in the 18th century .