HAD the weather conditions been better 200 years ago we could all have been speaking French today. But the vagaries of the 1796 Irish winter meant that the formidable French Armada raised by Theobold Wolfe Tone, with the aim of liberating Ireland from British rule, failed and returned, storm battered, from Bantry Bay to France.
Tone was shattered at coming close but failing at the last leg. "We were near enough to toss a biscuit ashore . . . in all my life rage has never entered so deeply into my heart as when we turned our back on the coast," he said in his journal.
Now Tone's efforts are to be remembered in the biggest series of events ever hosted by an Irish community of this size Bantry Bay '96 which centres on the town of Bantry but involves the entire Beara peninsula.
"We would all be speaking French, sporting fleur de lis and singing La Marseillaise" said chairman of Bantry Bay '96, Dr Matt Murphy. "That we are not is no reason for failing to commemorate Wolfe Tone's gallant efforts. It will be a celebration by the people of the Bantry Bay area and we invite the rest of the country to join in."
A timely coincidence of events has brought Bantry Bay `96 expected to attract over half a million people to almost 40 events from April to September into existence.
Although it returned to France, the Armada, under the command of General Louis Lazare Hoche did leave something behind. One of the ships' long boats was blown, Bere Island, off Castletownbere, its crew captured. It is now kept in the Maritime Museum in Dun Laoghaire.
Replicas of the 39 ft Bantry long boat now take part in an international series of rowing and sailing events involving nine nations. Ireland, with a crew from Bantry, won the biennial Atlantic Challenge in Canada in 1994.
As Bantry was to play host the event this year, a committee from local communities decided that as well as hosting the Atlantic Challenge they should also celebrate the bicentenary of the invasion and involve the entire Bay area.
The Atlantic Challenge will form one of the lynch pins of the festival, with teams from France, Canada, Russia, Denmark and the USA participating. It takes place in July. A month before that Castletownbere and Berehaven will host the Bristol '96 Regatta. On the first leg of a race, 10 tall ships and over 70 yachts will come into the bay for 10 days before departing for La Rochelle.
The boats will be on display and take part in sailing trips and races. Shore based activities have been organised and the highlight will be a Parade of Sail as they leave the harbour. "This will be a huge maritime event for Ireland in a spectacular area. There will be live entertainment and music on the streets and in the pubs and in marquees along the quay side," according to Deirdre O'Donovan, the festival's project coordinator.
A French armada of a different kind will sail into Bantry Bay in July when up to 50 French yachts will gather. The Bantry Sailing Club has invited Irish yachts from all over the country to join in.
A number of existing events such as the Bantry Mussel Fair, held in May, will be included in the Bantry Bay '96 programme. New events include the West Cork Chamber Festival, the Rhythm and Food Festival, both in June and a flower festival in August.
Up to 500 sub aqua divers will take part in Dive Ireland in June, while the Bantry Bay Summer School in July will explore the historical background of the French Armada.
The Armada actually sailed into Bantry Bay from Brest in the middle of December 1796. Around 50 warships carried nearly 15,000 soldiers. As they neared their destination weather conditions worsened. As storm force gales raged communication from ship to ship was chaotic and the fleet became separated.
On Christmas Eve 19 ships were off Bere Island in the bay with 6,500 troops ready to land on the following day. But to Tone's despair savage easterly gales blew the ships back out to sea.
A week later on New Year's Day a second wave of French ships, with 4,500 troops, was anchored off Whiddy Island, in Bantry Bay. Yet again a landing proved impossible and the French decided to head for home.
They left behind the veteran frigate La Surveillante which was too storm battered to make the journey. She was scuttled on January 2nd off Whiddy Island, where she remains.
Rediscovered in 1982 La Surveillante was declared an Irish national monument over a decade ago. Work has begun on its recovery, conservation and exhibition.
The Bantry French Aramda Centre, an interpretative centre in the grounds of historic Bantry House, features the events of 1796 including a large scale model of the ship. In September the inhabitants of Bere Island will stage a Wolfe Tone Commemoration with a reenactment of the landing.
O'Donovan says the festival will cost over £400,000. "The entire thing is community based and we are encouraging everyone to get involved. The funding is coming together but we obviously welcome anyone interested in getting involved. Festivals are really the best way of making people aware of an area and increasing tourism. We want to put the Bantry Bay area on the map."