THE CORK GUIDE

www.cork-guide.ie 

Kinsale

Kinsale in County Cork is one of the most picturesque, popular and fashionable resorts of the south-west coast of Ireland. Famous for its beautiful Kinsale Crystal,  yachting, sea angling, gourmet restaurants and golf. 

Kinsale can easily claim its place amongst Ireland's most historic locations for this has been a centre of population, commerce, trade and fishing far beyond memory and record. In its earliest days the estuary of the Bandon River gave it great importance as the river is tidal as far as Innishannon and water transport was dominant until the 18th Century.

The estuary also provided excellent anchorage for ancient shipping which went in peril of the vagaries of the weather.

The Town nestles between the hills and the shoreline, a maze of narrow streets, never far from the water and little changed in many hundreds of years. Amongst buildings of later periods are those of another age with historical links to the French, Spanish, British and Americans.

HISTORY

The Battle of Kinsale, fought in 1602 between a combined Spanish, an Irish force and English armies, was a turning point in Irish history.
The harbour is guarded by two very fine star-shaped fortresses built in the 17th century: Charles Fort is well worth a visit (guided tours). See also the old Courthouse, now a museum; St Multose Church, built in the 13th century and still in use, and 'French Prison', the 16th century Desmond Castle. There is a signposted tourist trail to this fascinating town with a guide booklet. Take a trip too to the Old Head of Kinsale for magnificent cliff scenery. It was off here that the Lusitania was sunk in 1915 with a loss of over 1,500 lives.

Kinsale Activities

Maritime activities of course are an essential element of life in Kinsale; cruising, deep sea angling with blue shark fishing, yacht charter, river trips, scuba diving, are all available to visitors. The town boasts fine outdoor activity centres with full hire and tuition facilities for windsurfing, sailing, canoeing, to all levels.

Nearby beaches, coves, and inlets allow space and privacy for bathing, swimming, snorkelling and, on some patrolled beaches, surfing and body-boarding.

Take your binoculars to the coast to see gannet, cormorant, terns, gulls, and hosts of sea birds nesting on the sanctuary cliffs of the Old Head. Or cruise up the Bandon river and backwaters to see heron colonies, sandpipers, curlew, dunlin, in an expanse of tranquility and natural environment.

Kinsale boasts 3 fine Golf Courses in varying locations. Kinsale Golf Club has a 9 hole parkland course and an eighteen hole meadowland course, while The Old Head Golf links is a spectacular 18 hole Championship course. Visitors are most welcome at these courses.

Clay-bird shooting, horse riding, or pony trekking, guided and self-guided walks, a maze of country roads awaiting exploration by foot or bicycle, all within easy distance of the town

Charles Fort

The North, Flagstaff and the Cockpit, are the three landward bastions and all three had a brick sentry box at their outermost point, two of these still survive.
William Robinson, architect of the Royal Hospital in Kilmainham, Dublin, is credited with designing the Fort. Across the estuary is James Fort, an earlier structure, which was designed by Paul Ivy in 1602. In 1690 after the 'Battle of the Boyne' the Williamite forces arrived at Kinsale and attacked both forts. Guided tours available. Restricted access for people with disabilities due to uneven terrain.

Desmond Castle

Desmond Castle, (French Prison) Cork Street, Kinsale, built as a custom house by the Earl of Desmond c. AD 1500. Desmond Castle has had a colourful history, ranging from Spanish occupation in 1601 to use as a prison for captured American sailors during the American War of Independence. Known locally as 'The French Prison' after a tragic fire in which 54 prisoners, mainly French seamen, died in 1747. The castle was also used as a borough jail from 1791 to the onset of the Great Famine when it was used as an auxiliary workhouse tending to the starving populace.

Over the main entrance to the castle you may see the Geraldine arms, bees on a quartered shield, while high above is displayed a mirror image of the royal arms. The well constructed building, founded on rock, consists of a keep with storehouses to the rear. The former is a fine example of a town castle with domestic offices on the first and second floors. A variety of window forms, beneath the Irish stepped battlements, add interest to the main facade.

Access to the site is by stone stairway. 

For Further Information Please Tel 021 774855

  Copyright ©  www.cork-guide.ie