On to Our Destination – Kinsale in County Cork

Our final destination for this day’s drive was the coastal town of Kinsale in County Cork Ireland… Our little group had diverted to local roads from the expressway/motorway to explore an area that might be tied back to Laurie’s brother in law Bill’s, heritage. 

Moving on from his probable heritage site, it wasn’t long before we sighted a castle along the road!  This is Foulkstrath Castle, a Norman Tower House located in County Kilkenny. 

Notes:

·         County Kilkenny is home to 8 intact or restored castles as well as 11 castles ruins!

·         Foulksrath Castle is reputed to be haunted by 3 different spirits, 2 females and a male.  It was visited in 1992 by a BBC television crew of British ghost hunters.

This is part of the wall encircling Foulkstrath Castle.  That’s the Ford van that we rented for our exploration of Ireland…

The estate and original fortified and moated structure were first built in 1349.  However, the current castle was built in the early 1400s… Most of the outer wall, as well as the tower and part of the moat are still intact.

We took this photo of the inner courtyard area through the gate shown in the previous photo.  Imagine...this is now someone's private home!

Note:

·         Relatives of Jonathan Swift (Gulliver’s Travels), were associated with the castle since at least 1857.  In that year, Godwin Meade Pratt Swift patented the first aircraft in Ireland.   He called it an ‘aerial chariot’.  He tested it by launching it via a catapult (with his butler as the pilot) from the top of the castle.  It crashed and the butler survived with several broken bones…

This is a view of The Square, Freshford in the town of Kilkenny.  This is a fairly typical center city scene in a modest sized town… The population of Kilkenny is close to 27,000.  Kilkenny is the ‘County Town’/County Seat for County Kilkenny. 

The city began as an early 6^th century ecclesiastical foundation within the Kingdom of Ossory…that’s ‘only’ 1,500 years ago!  Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, Kilkenny Castle and a series of walls were built to protect the town merchants in this trading center.  Kilkenny was given a charter as a town by the Lord of Leinster in 1207.

Learn about the ancient Kingdom of Ossory (1^st Century) and its legendary founder, Oengus Osrithe, at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osraige.

  

FYI… I was curious about the Brennan Sisters Takeaway restaurant at the right side of the photo.  Talk about a cosmopolitan establishment!  It has an Irish name (previous owners), an owner named Abdullah Barat and it serves Irish and Turkish food as well as pizza!   

Along the way as we headed south, we passed this abandoned mill…you can see the water wheel at the rear of the structure.  I was unable to identify this particular mill, but I did learn that it’s one of several located in the area.  Some of them date back to the late 1700s and corn flour seems to have been the dominant, but not their exclusive product.

For photos and background of several of this type of structure in County Kilkenny, go to http://irishhistorypodcast.ie/a-journey-through-medieval-county-kilkenny-in-pictures/.

I’m not able to identify these beautiful but sad church ruins that we passed along our route, but County Kilkenny contains perhaps the highest concentration of medieval ruins in Ireland.  The area was conquered in the years after the Norman invasion of Ireland in 1169 and major rebuilding took place after the conquest. 

To view some of the other ruins in the area and to learn a little about them, you can go to http://irishhistorypodcast.ie/a-journey-through-medieval-county-kilkenny-in-pictures/.

In addition to a plethora of historic ruins, there is a lot to see and do in County Kilkenny.  Check it out at http://visitkilkenny.ie/things_to_do.

Then we were back on the M8 Motorway (Irish Expressway) on the final leg of our drive to Ireland’s south coast.  We took the loop road around the City of Cork to avoid the traffic and to maximize our time on the water.  If we’d had more time, Cork would have definitely been on our itinerary. 

…and finally we reached our destination for the day.  This is the town center for Kinsale County Cork Ireland.  Kinsale was founded under a charter granted by England’s King Edward III in 1333.  Kinsale (Irish Gaelic: Cionn tSaile) means “Tide Head”.  It has been an historic port and fishing town over the years. 

Today Kinsale is all about tourism… This town of about 5,300 residents is sometimes referred to as the Irish Mediterranean and its well known for its safe harbor and mild climate. 

This large marina is located adjacent to Kinsale’s town center.  The town is not only a holiday destination for Ireland’s citizens but, as our presence indicates, overseas tourists as well.  Boating is obviously a big draw as is golf and fishing…

This shows part of the drive up Compass Hill behind the town as we sought out the location of our accommodations for the night…

The town of Kinsale is situated between the surrounding hills and the harbor’s shoreline.  It is a maze of narrow streets with few of them being far from the water.  Many haven’t changed for hundreds of years.  Not only are there many very old Irish structures, but there are buildings from later periods with historical links to the French, Spanish, British and Americans.

This is the Rocklands House Bed and Breakfast.  It’s perched high on the hillside, above Kinsale and its harbor.  Laurie took this photo of our gracious and helpful host, John Bateman, giving directions and restaurant suggestions to Bonnie and yours truly. 

As I mentioned before, Rocklands House is located on Compass Hill.  This was our room with a very comfortable king-size bed plus a great view of the Bandon River and the town of Kinsale. 

…yet another look at our room.  Some may complain that the TV is too small, but there is something wrong with you if you want to spend much time in your room in a place like Kinsale!

…and this was our bathroom at Rocklands House.  The facilities as well as the grounds were very well maintained!

More about Rocklands House in another posting.  However, in our opinion not only was this a great stay, it was a great value too!  We visited Kinsale in the latter part of September and our price per night was only 90E/$108.00 per couple!  Learn more at http://irishfarmholidays.com/accommodation-listings/rocklands-house/.

Rocklands House sits on 3 acres high above Kinsale.  That’s the R600 Bridge over the Bandon River as viewed from Compass Hill.  The river is famous for its Atlantic salmon fishing.  The largest recorded salmon caught in Ireland since 1991 came from this river.  It weighed 28 lbs. 3 oz.

From about 1694, Kinsale served as a supply base for British Royal Navy ships in southern Ireland.  Its usefulness was limited the service of smaller vessels due to a sandbar at the mouth of the river. 

One English privateer, Captain Woodes Roger, referred to a pair of rocks at the entrance that his ship almost ran aground…terming them the ‘Sovereigne’s Bollacks’.  In 1805 during the Napoleonic Wars, the Royal Navy moved its supply and replenishing center to Cork harbor…ending the naval significance of Kinsale’s Harbor.   

This is a view of Charles Fort from Compass Hill above Kinsale.  This is a ‘star fort’ at the southern end of the village of Summer Cove on Kinsale Harbor.  The star shape of the walls allow defenders many angles of attack against anyone trying to storm the structure.  First completed in 1682, it’s sometimes referred to as the ‘new fort’ in contrast with James’ Fort which had been built on the other side of the harbor before 1607. 

Focused water borne attacks, the weakness of this fort lies landward with vulnerability due to higher ground above its defenses.  Consequently, in 1690 it fell to John Churchill, 1^st Duke of Marlborough and his forces after a 13-day siege during the Williamite War in Ireland.   The fort was then used as a British Army barracks for over 200 years, finally being given up by British forces after the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921.

To learn about the Williamite War, a 3-year event, you can go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Williamite_War_in_Ireland. 

Charles Fort is open to visitors and it is a key area tourist destination.  You can learn more at http://www.heritageireland.ie/en/south-west/charlesfort/. 

Although it is basically an historic ruin, the site of James Fort on nearby Castlepark peninsula in Kinsale harbor is also open to the public.   

Much more on Kinsale to follow… Just click on any of the photos to 

enlarge them.

Thanks for stopping by for our continued Irish adventure!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave