Croston Places: Bandon, County Cork, Ireland
Bandon, County Cork is located along the River Bandon, to the west of Cork city. The town was founded in 1604 by English settlers and became one of the largest English settlements in the area. There was a saying: "Bandon Town where even the pigs are Protestant" The town was surrounded by a wall and only Protestants were allowed inside. The saying refers to the fact that pigs were allowed to walk the streets but not Catholics which caused a great deal of turmoil in the area. Several battles took place over the years and the restrictions were eventually loosened. But to some degree today Bandon is still thought of as a "Black" town. If an English settler arrived in County Cork through Cobh/ Queenstown harbor they would have traveled up the road from Cork city through Bandon to reach West Cork. Therefore this is a natural place to look for evidence of early Croston settlers. During my last trip to Ireland I spoke with a Bandon historian who told me