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 Kinsale in County
Cork is one of the most picturesque, popular and
fashionable resorts of the south-west coast of Ireland.
Famous for its 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 1601 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.
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