TODAY marks a historic occasion for Bantry and for University College Cork. The irreplaceable archive of Bantry House in west - Cork will be handed over to UCC's Boole Library. It documents the life of the great house and the history that surrounded it over the past 309 years.
It's an archive about the White family, but much more besides. The archive contains historically rare and valuable documents, including 17th and 18th century maps and correspondence about the French revolutionary expedition of 1796 and the 1798 rebellion.
The collection has been donated by Mr Egerton Shelswell White and Ms Brigitta Shelswell White and will now be kept in perpetuity by UCC for the nation.
The earliest records in the archive, dating from about 1690, refer to land deals between the White family and the Earl of Anglesey, which led to the establishment of the Bantry House estate.
They go on to provide information about the estates owned by the Whites in Glengarriff, Castletownbere and Macroom.
It is an invaluable historic resource, both for the Munster region and also in terms of national Irish history," said Prof Michael Mortell, president of UCC, at the handing over of the archive in pantry.
The archive contains the formal records of the legal, financial and general administration of Bantry House and estate, and also the more personal records concerning the lives and personalities of the family which owned it.
In 1816, Richard White was created the first Earl of Bantry. His son, Viscount Berehaven, laid the plans for the beautiful house and gardens which are a must for Bantry visitors. His inspiration for the house came from the many sketches he made during extensive tours of the Continent before his marriage.
There is also a large number of letters, diaries, journals and photographs reflecting the life and times of a prominent west Cork family.
Little is known about the organisation of the United Irishmen in the south and west of Ireland, but the archive reveals that in remote areas such as Bantry and Berehaven, the United Irishmen were not without followers.