Pádraig Harrington is Ireland's most famous golfer.  He has won 3 different golfing championships in Europe and America including the US Open and the PGA championship.  He is currently the 10th best golfer in the world.

But did you know that his father was from Beara?  Pádraig Harrington's father was born in Eyeries village.  In fact, Pádraig Harrington still visits his aunts and uncles in Beara during the summer and has donated a large amount of money to the local lifeboat.

Flick through the slideshow to see some pictures of Pádraig in action!

Lights, Camera, ACTION!

Movie directors say these words all the time - including the famous film director from Beara, Neil Jordan.

Mr. Jordan moved to Beara in 1983 and he now lives by Ardgroom. He has directed lots of different movies like Interview with a Vampire,Micheal Collins and Ondine.

Ondine was a very special movie because it was filmed in Beara. This movie is a modern fairy-tale and it tells the story of a local fisherman who falls in love with a mermaid that he catches in his net. However, the mermaid is in terrible danger from her cruel and evil husband...

If you rent this movie you will be able to see the different towns and villages of the Beara peninsula - including some of the locals. Until then, watch the trailer for this movie or go to the Gallery to see some pictures of the film being made in Beara in 2008.

At the centre of Castletownbere there is a very famous pub called 'MacCarthy's Bar'. It is very famous because it was once on the cover of a very well known book of the same name.

However, the original owner of this pub was a very famous man as well. That man's name was Aiden MacCarthy and he has an amazing story.

Aiden MacCarthy was born in Castletownbere in 1914 and eventually became a doctor when he went to England in 1929. When World War Two broke out, Dr. MacCarthy joined the Allied RAF - Royal Air Force. He won many different medals for his bravery at the Battle of Dunkirk, including the George Medal.

In 1944, however, MacCarthy was captured by the Axis forces (with whom the Allied forces were fighting against. He, as well as the other prisoners, were treated very badly by their captors but Dr. MacCarthy always ensured that the other prisoners were in good spirits and good health.

When the war ended in 1945, the Japanese first surrendered to Dr. MacCarthy as he was the most senior military person in Japan at that time, even though he was a Prisoner of War (POW).

After the war, Dr. MacCarthy returned to England but often returned to Castletownbere to keep an eye on the family business, which his daughter now runs full-time since his death at the age of 83 in 1992. Before his death, he wrote a book about his experiences called 'A Doctor's War'.

Adrigole is a tiny little village outside Glengarriff on the Beara peninsula.  However, in 2003 it suddenly became very famous when a US warship was named after the Sullivan family, originally from Adrigole.

The Sullivans were a working-class Irish-American family of five boys and one girl from Waterloo, Iowa. Their grand-parents were Tom and Mary Bridget O'Sullivan, who left the Beara Peninsula, in 1849 at the height of the famine. Growing up, the five boys - George, Frank, Eugene, Matt and Al - were very mischievous indeed!  Their first adventure involved sailing an old and leaky boat down the local river – until it started to sink!

In December, 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour. And, as the five Sullivans were listening to radio reports with growing anger, they decided to join the navy together.  However, they decided that they would only join if the Navy allowed them to stick together, even though families were not allowed to serve on the same ship.  The Sullivan brothers were allowed to serve together and they started their service on the USS Juneau in February 1942.

On Friday, November 13, 1942, a Japanese torpedo hit the USS Juneau and destroyed her in seconds. All of the brothers died in the explosion but many of the survivors recalled how the brothers stayed together, helping the wounded to the liferafts.

In 2003, it was decided that a new US warship would be commissioned and that it would be called ‘The Sullivans’.  The ships motto is the brothers' motto: "We Stick Together".  That ship visited Castletownbere harbour in July of 2003 to honour these brave young men who stuck together no matter what.