A LANDMARK arts venue and education hub in Bantry, which is 30 years in the making, could further cement West Cork’s reputation as a region of cultural importance and creativity.

West Cork Music, the non-profit rural arts organisation behind the celebrated West Cork Chamber Festival, West Cork Literary Festival and Masters of Tradition, lodged a planning application with Cork County Council last week for a multi-purpose 250 seat auditorium at the former GW Biggs & Co site at Bridge Lane and Market Lane close to the town’s library.

This would also include a reception and ticket office, foyer, changing rooms, showers and toilets, technical support rooms, green room, offices and store.

Plans include a linked three-storey education hub incorporating a ground floor café, teaching and rehearsals rooms as well as a multi-purpose performance space and public plaza.

CEO and artistic director of West Cork Music Francis Humphrys told The Southern Star that while West Cork is an extraordinary creative region, it has been ‘under-served in terms of permanent arts infrastructure’.

‘Our venue and education hub – 30 years in the making – will bring world-class performances to West Cork all year round, develop local talent and make Bantry and even better place to live and visit,’ she said. ‘We are hugely grateful to everyone who has helped us reach this point.’

West Cork Music, whose festivals created an economic impact of €7.67m in 2025 alone, added that these new facilities will create a ‘home and a hub’ for the organisation, enabling it to act as a year-round engine for the arts across Bantry and its hinterlands.

Award-winning Dublin-based architects McCullough Mulvin have designed the plans for the concert hall and education hub with a total floor area of 1,970sq m.

If approved this development will create a striking destination in Bantry for audiences seeking to experience world-class performance across genres and disciplines including music, song, the spoken word and theatre.

Local, Irish and international donors have already raised close to €1m towards the costs of his ambitious project which will sit alongside Bantry Library and held shape an emerging cultural hub in the harbour town. Bantry Community Fund was one such fund that has contributed €75,000 to this ambitious project.

Planners are expected to give a decision on the application by June 11th.