Bere Island, three miles wide and seven miles long, sits under the watchful eye of Hungry Hill, highest mountain on the Bere Peninsula.  It stands like a rocky sentry at the mouth of Bantry Bay in Southwest Cork.  Two massive Martello towers, a hundred and fifty feet above the water, stare down at the Bay, ready to harass Napoleon's fleet with canon fire.  



French ships did come once, but never landed--driven out to sea by a fierce winter storm.  The towers still keep watch over the bay, along with the remains of the gun emplacements that guarded the British Fleet in Bereave Harbor during World War I.


[This is the view from the tower above.  Jim's place is just out of the picture to the right, about 2/3 of the way up the right edge of the picture.  For the views from the cottage, click on Jim's View.]

Car ferries from Castletownbere on the mainland make the twenty minute trip to the island several times a day, serving the island residents and summer visitors.  A church, two pubs, a restaurant, a cafe, and two small stores are available all summer.

For more information on Bere Island, 
see www.bereisland.net.