Bantry Bay (New South Wales)

Bight in Australia

Bantry Bay
Bantry Bay seen from the bluff at the northern end of the bay.
Bantry BayLocation of Bantry Bay in New South Wales
Location	Northern Sydney, New South Wales
Coordinates	33°46′55″S 151°13′04″E / 33.78194°S 151.21778°E / -33.78194; 151.21778
Primary outflows	Middle Harbour, Port Jackson
Basin countries	Australia

Bantry Bay is a bay located in the Garigal National Park in Middle Harbour within Sydney Harbour, in New South Wales, Australia. The local Bluff Track starts at the end of Grattan Crescent Frenchs Forest. There is a steep walk down to a wharf on the bay. It was named after Bantry Bay in Ireland.

History and description

Aboriginal occupation of the area is evident through the abundance of middens along the foreshore.

The Warringah Shire Council minutes of 4 January 1907 reveal how unpopular was the government's proposal to take over Bantry Bay, which was a popular recreation area for many residents of Sydney, and had been visited regularly by day trippers since the 1840s, but by 1910 work on the construction of the new explosives magazines at Bantry Bay had commenced.

Bantry Bay was used to store military explosives. The storage complex consisted of nine explosives magazines which replaced old hulks that had been used to store explosives in nearby Powder Hulk Bay on Sydney Harbour. In 1915 the works were handed over to the state Explosives Department, which regulated the explosives industry in NSW. In 1973 operations at Bantry Bay were discontinued and the facility was closed.

The estuary is known to be a habitat for bull sharks, and two fatal shark attacks occurred in the bay in 1942.

The NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service currently maintains the site and in 2003 announced it would invest A$350,000 in restoring the ageing roofing. As of 2006 the site remained closed to the public due to old explosive contamination at the site. However, there are good views of the site from the eastern side of Bantry Bay, which can be accessed from the Timbergetter's track, which starts at Seaforth Oval. Walking tracks also go around the west side of the magazines, providing access from the nearby residential area of Killarney Heights.

Prior to the creation of Garigal National Park, the area had been preserved for some time as a reserve of 250 hectares (620 acres), which was listed on the Register of the National Estate.

References

"Bantry Bay (NSW)". Gazetteer of Australia online. Geoscience Australia, Australian Government.
Champion OAM, George; Champion OAM, Shelagh (May 2003). A Night on the Powderhulks (PDF) (PDF).
"NPWS lifts the lid on Bantry Bay explosives stores in Garigal National Park". National Parks and Wildlife Service (Press release). Archived from the original on 25 August 2006.
Paton, Neil (2004). Sydney and Blue Mountains Bushwalks. Kangaroo Press. pp. 48–58.
The Heritage of Australia. Macmillan Company. 1981. p. 2/42.

External links

John MacRitchie (2008). "Bantry Bay". Dictionary of Sydney. Retrieved 24 September 2015.

v t e Waterways of the Sydney Metropolitan catchment, New South Wales, Australia
Major inlets and harbours	Botany Bay Broken Bay Middle Harbour Port Jackson Port Hacking
Minor bays and coves	Akuna Balls Head Bantry Berrys Blackwattle Burraneer Canada Careening Cove Cockle Dolans Double Elizabeth Gwawley Gymea Hen & Chicken Homebush Iron Cove Lavender Mosman Neutral Oatley Rose Rozelle Rushcutters Towlers Watsons Weeney White Woolooware
Lagoons	Dee Why Curl Curl Manly Narrabeen
Rivers	Cooks Duck Georges Hacking Hawkesbury Lane Cove Lennox (proposed) Nepean Parramatta Pittwater Woronora
Creeks	A'Becketts Angus Archer Badgerys Bardwell Bare Bedford Bellamy Farm Bellbird Bells Berowra Bidjigal Bilgola Blacktown Blaxland Blue Gum Boggywell Bonds Breakfast Brennans Brickmakers Bunbury Curran Bungarribee Burdekin Byrnes Cabramatta Caddies Cahill Camp Careel Carroll Charity Claremont Clear Paddock Creek Coal and Candle Coopers Cosgrove Cowan Coxs (Belfield) Cup and Saucer Darling Mills Deadmans Devlin Duck Eastern Erskine Eskdale Excelsior Finlaysons First Ponds Forbes Green Valley Frenchs Glenbrook Gore Grantham Greystanes Haslams Hunts Iron Cove Johnstons Kemps Knapsack Lalor Little Lowes Marsden McCarrs McKenzies McMahon's Maxwells Middle Harbour Mill Minchinbury O'Hares Orphan School Orphan School (Fairfield) Pendle Hill Powells Prospect Punchbowl Quakers Reedy Rileys Ropes Saleyards Salt Pan Sawmill Scout Second Ponds Smalls Smiths South Still Stoney Subiaco Tarban Terrys Thompsons Toongabbie Two Vineyard Werrington Whites Williams Wolli
Canals and streams	Alexandra Canal Busby's Bore Guildford West pipehead and water supply canal Hawthorne Canal Tank Stream Upper Canal System
Reservoirs	Balmain (disused) Botany Swamps Centennial Park Lake Burragorang Manly Dam Reserve Paddington (disused) Penshurst Petersham Lake Parramatta Prospect Prospect Hill Reservoir Upper Nepean Scheme Waverley
Adjoining rivers and bays	Akuna Brisbane Water Burke Cataract Colo Cordeaux Coxs Grose Hollanders Jenolan Jooriland Kedumba Kowmung Macdonald Mooney Mooney Mulwaree Nattai Tarlo Warragamba Wollondilly

v t e Coastal bays and inlets of New South Wales, Australia
North of Sydney Harbour	Akuna Anna Bateau Blue Boat Harbour Bonnells Booker Brisbane Water Broken Byron Careel Carey Catherine Hill Chain Valley Chittaway Cogra Crangan Croudace Crowdy Elvina Empire Fennell Fingal Fishermans Hardys Kilaben Lovett Morning Myuna Bay Nelson One Mile Oyster Phegans Port Stephens Salamander Shoal Tanilba Toowoon Trial Warners Woy Woy
Within Sydney Harbour	Balls Head Bantry Berrys Blackwattle Canada Careening Cove Cockle Double Elizabeth Hen & Chicken Homebush Iron Cove Lavender Mosman Neutral Oatley Port Jackson Rose Rozelle Rushcutters Towlers Watsons White
South of Sydney Harbour	Bate Batemans Bittangabee Bondi Bonnet Botany Burraneer Callala Coogee Dolans Gunnamatta Gwawley Gymea Jervis Bay Kogarah Kyle Little Mackenzies Malua Mystery Port Hacking Twofold Weeney Wattamolla Woolooware Yowie
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