25 interesting facts about Beara

1. The Celts first landed in Ireland at Garnish, near the westernmost end of the Beara peninsula.

2. The peninsula was named after a Spanish princess, Princess Beara.

3. Beara may have the highest density of antiquities in Ireland, with 511 historical sites, some of which date to 2000 BC. Bonane Valley has many fine examples.

4. The Cailleach Beara is one of the oldest mythological antiquities in Ireland.

5. The oldest writing on a stone in Ireland is pre-Ogham and can be found in Glentastel, Lauragh.

6. The tallest ogham stone in the world is in Ballycrovane, near Eyeries.

7. The Children of Lir – Fionnuala, Aodh, and the twins, Fiachra and Conn - are buried in Allihies.

8. O’Sullivan Beare is the only Irish chieftain whom Queen Elizabeth I of England did not pardon after the battle of Kinsale.

9. O’Sullivan Beare's march to Leitrim, in the winter of 1603, is the most famous in Irish history.

10. Berehaven harbour is the second safest natural harbour in the world.

11. In 1796, Wolfe Tone and the French Navy arrived in Bantry Bay. One of their longboats was seized in Bere Island, and is now in the National Museum of Ireland in Dun Laoghaire.

12. In 1914, after the British spent £4 million on defenses on Bere Island,
Berehaven was known as the most fortified harbour in western Europe.

13. The Dursey Island Cable Car is the only cable car in Ireland.

14. Dursey was named by the Vikings, who used it as a slave depot.

15. The copper mines in Allihies were worked extensively throughout the 19th and parts of the 20th century. They are 420 metres deep and extend under the sea.

16. Ballydonegan in Allihies is the only beach in Ireland made from crushed stone, which washed down from the copper mines.

17. Blackball in Cahermore was a volcanic area.

18. Beara is the only peninsula in Ireland that straddles two counties -- Cork and Kerry.

19. Beara is home to one of the rarest birds in Ireland - the Chough.

20. Glengarriff Forest is home to the oldest oak trees in Ireland.

21. The tallest birch in Ireland is a downy birch growing in Lauragh; it is 25m high.

22. The highest waterfall in Ireland and the UK is the Mare's Tail in Adrigole.

23. The warmest place in Ireland is by Adrigole Bridge.

24. The freshwater mussels in Ardgroom are, at more than 100 years of age, the oldest shellfish on the peninsula.

25. The Beara peninsula is the most scenic coastal route in Ireland.