Ballybunion (Baile an Bhunneanaibhgh)
is situated in north county Kerry at the mouth of the river
Shannon. Ideally located between 2 airports -Kerry Airport and Shannon Airport.
Ballybunion faces out west to the north Atlantic and across the
Shannon estuary to the shores of County Clare. The village of
Ballybunion is a mere 35 miles from the famous Killarney National
Park and was the site of the first transatlantic telephone
transmission made from the Marconi wireless station in 1919 to
Louisbourg Cape Breton Nova Scotia by W. T. Ditcham a Marconi
Engineer.
Ballybunion is steeped in a long history stretching back to the 14th
century when the castle which forms the focal point of the village
was erected by the Geraldines. The
castle was acquired from the Geraldines by the Bunyan family from which the village of Ballybunion
derives its name. The castle was lost a year later (1583) by William
Bunyan for the role he played in the Desmond rebellion. In 1612 the
castle and lands were granted to the 16th Lord of Kerry and Lixnaw
later in 1783 Richard Hare was in possession of the castle until
finally in 1923 the castle came under the care of the Office of
Public Works who remain custodians of the castle to this day.
Ballybunion is home to the Ballybunion golf course a world renown
golf links that is ranked in the top ten golf courses in the world.
The original golf course is over 100 years old (formerly known as
the Cashen course a name acquired due to its location at the mouth
of the Cashen of the Feale river) this original course was designed
by Robert Trent Jones. The golf course of Ballybunion was the
subject of a recent visit by president Bill Clinton of the United
States of America (August 1999) Ballybunion has been selected as
the venue for the 2000 Murphy's Irish Open Golfing Tournament.
Ballybunion is situated in a region of the island of Ireland that is
free from industry and the pollution and environmental problems
associated with industry and large population centres (as are the
majority county regions of this unspoiled country). As a result Ballybunion
is a site of great natural beauty and possesses a wide range of flora and fauna. By the
shoreline it is not unusual to see a multitude of birds nesting and
foraging including seagulls shags cormorants herons and because
of the mild winter climate various other migratory birds. Many
marine animals can be observed along the coast such as sea otters
seals and seal pupsporpoises dolphins lobster and salmon.
The waters and surrounding countryside of this picturesque area have
won the European Blue Flag award. This award is an acknowledgment by
the European union to regions that achieve a standard of water
quality that is free of pollution. This award is subject to yearly
renewal and therefore guarantees continued environmental quality
in areas such as Ballybunion that achieve the standard of this
award. This fact makes Ballybunion and the surrounding coastline
ideal for the harvesting of sea vegetables such as dulse (dillisk/
sea grass/ Palmaria palmata) and Irish moss (carrageen moss/
Chondrus crispus) providing a product of a quality and with a
flavour
which we are sure is unsurpassable (ordering information
