ABOUT US

About Bantry

Bantry Bays' shores are washed by the warm waters of the Gulf Stream. The bay itself is one of the worlds deepest and it’s also the largest of the long marine inlets in south-west Ireland.

One of the finest and safest harbours in Europe, Bantry Bay has no dangerous sand banks and is sheltered from most winds by the mountains which surround it. From earliest times the bay has been used as a haven by fishermen and merchant ships. However, while the community’s ties to fishing and the sea have always been strong, it wasn’t until the early 1980s that mussel lines began to appear in off-shore waters.

What started as an uncertain experiment in this dramatically beautiful region of West Cork has now grown to become a major seafood industry, with mussels as the main product. Of critical importance to the local economy, the industry provides jobs for hundreds of people and brings in millions of euros in exports annually. Today Bantry Bay mussels can be found in restaurants and supermarkets all over the world. In fact the town has become synonymous with mussels.