Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
What seems like part of the old center was actually built later on land reclaimed from
the harbor. The town sits on the floor of a natural quarry, with easy-to-cut shale hills ideal
for a ready supply of fill. Notice the mudflats in the harbor at low tide. Clear-cutting of
the once-plentiful oakforest upriver (forshipbuilding andbarrel-making) hastened erosion
and silted up the harbor. By the early 1800s—when British ships needed lots of restocking
for the Napoleonic Wars—Kinsale's port was slowly dying, and nearby Cobh's deepwater
port took over the lion's share of shipping.
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Charles Fort
Kinsale is protected by what was Britain's biggest star-shaped fort—a state-of-the-art de-
fense when artillery made the traditional castle obsolete (low, thick walls were tougher for
cannons to breach than the tall, thin curtain walls of a castle). The British occupied it until
Irish independence in 1922. Its interior buildings were torched in 1923 by anti-treaty IRA
forces to keep it from being used by Free State troops during the Irish Civil War. Guided
45-minute tours (which depart on the hour—confirm at entry) engross you in the harsh
daily life of the 18th-century British soldier. Before or after your tour, peruse the exhibits
in the barracks and walk the walls.
Cost and Hours:
€4, daily mid-March-Oct 10:00-18:00, Nov-mid-March 10:00-17:00,
last entry 45 minutes before closing, a half-mile south of town in Summercove, tel. 021/
