Kinsale

Kinsale (Cionn tSáile, "head of the brine") is a small harbour in County Cork, Southwest Ireland. It's 25 km south of Cork city, at the mouth of the River Bandon, and in 2016 had a population of 5281. It's a tourist resort, popular for angling and sailing, and has a concentration of gourmet restaurants.

Understand

Kinsale is a small sheltered harbour in the estuary of the river Bandon. It's popular with amateur sailors and sea-anglers, but is too small for ocean-going ships. But in bygone centuries with small craft, it was well-positioned for trade with France and Spain - and for dodging the attention of English warships patrolling the western Channel.

By 1600 the English controlled most of Ireland but the O'Neills of Ulster remained the last Irish opposition. They called for support from the Catholic continent and Spain weighed in. Several naval expeditions were beset by storms but in 1601 they managed to land troops at Kinsale - the wrong end of the country to help the O'Neills. They became bottled up there so the Irish marched south to join them and break the English siege. They were routed in the battle of 24 Dec 1601; the Spanish remained besieged for three months then surrendered, and were allowed to sail home. Irish rule was broken.

Another continental caller in 1689 was King James II & VII, ousted from the English throne but strongly supported in Ireland. He landed at Kinsale with French troops and marched north, to be beaten at the Battle of the Boyne. He scarpered down to Wexford then to Kinsale where he fled to France, leaving his Irish supporters to fight and die for a lost cause. So in terms of regnal number, that made him James II of England and Wales, VII of Scotland, and Séamus an Chaca of Ireland - "James the Shit".

In 1703 a band of privateers left Kinsale to attack Spanish shipping, and among them was Alexander Selkirk. After a year of storms and battles in the Pacific his ship was in a bad way, and he declared he'd rather be put ashore than continue in it. The captain left him on what we now call Robinson Crusoe Island, and sailed on to have the ship sink under him. Selkirk spent five years as a castaway, and altogether had a more lurid life than the mercantile hero of Daniel Defoe's novel.

The English built up their navy facilities here but Kinsale harbour was too small for late-18th century vessels, let alone the metal steamers of the Victorian age, thanks to the sandbar at its entrance and the rocks known as "The Sovereign's Bollocks". So it was never a major port of emigration, and didn't attract industry and development; the navy base moved to Cork. This means that Kinsale's higgledy-piggledy narrow old streets have been preserved, lined by colourful houses.

The Tourist Information Office is by the main town car park and bus stop on Pier Rd. It's open Tu-Sa 09:00-17:00.

Get in

See Cork for long distance options by rail, sea and air. Bus Éireann 226 runs hourly daily from Cork railway station, Parnell Place bus station and Cork airport, taking an hour to Kinsale. (Bus 226A only goes as far as the airport.) A standard single is €10, it's cheaper with a Leap card.

Local Link Bus 253 runs from Clonakilty via Timoleague and Ballinspittle to Kinsale. There are 5 M-Sa and 3 on Sunday.

By car from Cork take N27 towards the airport then R600 to Kinsale. From Bandon, take N71 towards Inishannon, then R605 to Kinsale.

🌍 Main town car park at the foot of Market Square is also the turnaround stop for the buses.

Get around

Walking should get you everywhere.

Local taxi companies are Kinsale Cabs +353 21 470 6853, and Cab 3000 +353 21 477 3000.

See
  • Town centre has colourful narrow streets.
  • 🌍 Charles Fort, Summercove, ☏ +353 21 477 2263. Daily 11:00-16:30. Impressive star-shaped fort, built 1677-82 over the earlier Ringcurran Castle, and named for the restored King Charles II. It became known as the "new fort", complementing the older James Fort across the harbour. It was built to repulse seaborne attack but was overlooked by higher ground and vulnerable to landward attack. That enabled John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, to capture town and fort in 1690 in the Williamite Wars. Various repairs and additions were made over the next 200 years and it remained a British military base until Irish independence in 1921. It then fell derelict before being restored as a national monument from the 1970s, with an exhibition area in the former commander's quarters. Adult €5. (updated Apr 2021)
  • 🌍 Desmond Castle, Cork St. Closed due to conservation works. Well-preserved tower house built circa 1500 by the Earl of Desmond as a custom house. After 1641 it became a prison mostly for Spanish and French captured at sea - in 1747 a fire killed 54 French prisoners - and later for Americans. It continued as the town jail for another century and was a workhouse during the 19th century famines. In the 1990s it was done up as a museum (including for a time as the "International Museum of Wine") but has been closed "for renovation" at least since 2010. (updated Apr 2021)
  • 🌍 James Fort. It was built 1602-07 after the siege of Kinsale, over the earlier Castle Ny-Parke, and named for King James I. (Specifically, he was James I of England and Ireland but James VI of Scotland). It had a good range of fire over the harbour approaches from its "blockhouse" and remained in use when Charles Fort was completed. But after the siege of 1690, the new fort became the military base and James Fort fell derelict. You can stroll round anytime. It's only 200 m from town across the river but you have to cross the bridge, making it 3 km and a scenic turnaround point for walkers and joggers. Free. (updated Nov 2020)
  • 🌍 Kinsale Museum, Old Town Hall, Market Square, ☏ +353 21 477 7930. Tu-Sa 10:00-14:00. Small museum depicting local history. When the ocean liner RMS Lusitania was torpedoed by a German U-boat in 1915, most survivors and bodies were taken to Cobh. But some bodies were brought here and the inquest into the sinking was opened. Adult - €5, Child - €2. (updated Apr 2021)
  • 🌍 St Multose Church. Church of Ireland. A hotchpotch of most known architectural styles. (updated Oct 2023)

Further out
  • The Sovereign Islands are a pair of sea-stacks seen from the headland south of Charles Fort. They're a nature reserve and boats may not land, not that they could.
  • Old Head of Kinsale is a spade-shaped headland 15 km southwest of town. The Signal Tower (daily 10:00-17:00), built in Napoleonic times, is a small museum with memorabilia of the Lusitania. In the tower's grounds is a very moving memorial to the 1198 victims of the sinking of the ship, 12 miles off the head, in 1915. On the "blade" of the headland are a ruined 13th-century de Courcey castle and a lighthouse. The head, beyond the ruins of the castle tower, is privately owned and occupied by the Old Head Golf Links. Since the current owner bought the head in the early 1990s, and despite public protest and failed court cases, there has been no public access to it.
  • Garretstown and Garrylucas are beaches west of the head. They're exposed, so they get surf, but may be too rough for family bathing.
  • The Wild Atlantic Way starts at the Old Head. Follow it west on R604; at Ballinspittle the "castle" is just a grassy mound. Keep west on R600 to Timoleague. The headland and coast beyond are described under Clonakilty; only another 2400 km to go to reach the other end in Donegal.

Do
  • Sailing. The visitor marina is at Castlepark, across the bridge near James Fort. This was the old navy dockyard, with sailing vessels careened on the beach, but nothing remains of that era. 
  • 🌍 Kinsale Beach. Sandy but small, east of Castlepark village on the road to James Fort. 
  • Kinsale Harbour Cruises, ☏ +353 86 250 5456. Apr-Oct daily hourly. Hourly cruises round the harbour, they don't venture into the open sea. Embarkation point is 300 m from Tourist Office opposite Acton's Hotel. Adult €14, child €6. (updated Nov 2020)
  • Kinsale Golf Club (2 km north of town on R607). (updated Aug 2023)
  • Kinsale Angling. Operate boats daily for fishing or diving. (updated Aug 2023)
  • Ghost Tour, ☏ +353 87 948 0910, . May-Sep: Su-F 21:00. A slapstick 90 min horror walking tour, though the only real horror is the bad puns perpetrated. It leaves from the Tap Tavern, see Drink. Adult €10, child €5. (updated Nov 2020)
  • Historic Stroll Kinsale. A 90 min walking tour Mar-Oct daily at 11:15 from the Tourist Office Adult €8, child €1.. (updated Aug 2023)
  • Dermot Ryan's Heritage Town Walk (from the Tourist Office), ☏ +353 21 477 2729, . 10:30 daily. Adult €5, children free. (updated Oct 2023)
  • Kinsale Arts Weekend. Every July. (updated Aug 2023)
  • Kinsale Gourmet Festival. Early October. (updated Aug 2023)
  • Cork Jazz Festival. Holds fringe events in Kinsale. (updated Aug 2023)

Buy

Eat
There's enough cheap and cheerful places, but for a small town Kinsale has a surprising number of excellent gourmet places.

Drink

Blacks of Kinsale distil gin, whiskey and rum, and brew a range of ales. The distillery doesn't offer tours, but you can sample their product at pubs around town.

  • 🌍 Spaniard Inn, Scilly (next to Man Friday), ☏ +353 21 477 2436. M-Th 10:30-23:30, F Sa 10:30-00:30, Su 12:30-23:30. Pleasant old-world pub on Scilly Peninsula, the food gets mixed reviews. (updated Mar 2021)
  • 🌍 The Grey Hound, Market Square, ☏ +353 21 477 2889. Su-Th 12:00-23:30, F Sa 12:00-00:30. A proper old Irish pub established in 1690. Has a mixed crowd from rugby/hurling fans to hippies. Tables outside, umbrellas and heaters for smokers. Usually sport on TV and a good selection of music if not. (updated Apr 2021)
  • 🌍 Kinsale Mead, Barracks Lane (500 metres from the tourist office), ☏ +353 21 477 3538, . 12:00-17:00 daily; tours: at 12:00, 14:00 and 16:00 Tu-Su. Ireland's first meadery in 200 years. Tours are a mix of mead history, honey tasting, mead making and mead tasting. 15 euro for tour. (updated Apr 2021)
  • 🌍 The Tap Tavern, 9 Guardwell (below Saint Multose Church), ☏ +353 21 477 3231. Friendly pub, has music on Thursday nights. (updated Apr 2021)
  • 🌍 Kitty O Se's, 1 Pearse Street, P17 DR67, ☏ +353 21 470 0053, . M-Th 10:30-23:30, F-Sa 10:30-00:30 Su 12:30-23:00. Traditional Irish Bar with good home cooked Irish food and music seven nights a week. (updated Nov 2023)

Sleep

Connect

As of March 2023, Kinsale has 4G from Eir and Three, and 5G from Vodafone. The signal is patchy on the approach roads through the countryside.

Go next
  • Cork city needs several days to explore, and another 8 km northwest is the famous castle at Blarney.
  • Cobh and Crosshaven near Cork are small ports like Kinsale, but they'll feel very busy and urban by comparison.


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