Kinsale– A Seaside Town

Of all the little villages and seaside towns in Ireland that we visited, in most ways Kinsale was my favorite, for a lot of reasons, the first of which is that our local guide, Barry Maloney (pictured above) was not full of bologna, or as the Irish would say, blarney…. quick word study…. here is where that word seems to have come from…

But still you’ll hear some woolly tales… or is it woolly tails….

Kinsale is important for a variety of reasons….here’s a little summary from me wife…The history of Kinsale dates to the 5th century, but we pick up the time line in 1381 with the building of a medieval wall around the whole city. The model below was very helpful. At the time the bay extended much further inland. The River Bandon eventually silted up. In 1601, the last of the Spanish Armadas under Philip III came to Kinsale. They joined forces with the Irish in the hopes of defeating the British. However, in the Battle of Kinsale, the English defeated the Spaniards and Rebel Irish. This occurred at the end of the Nine Years War and resulted in The Flight of the Earls – many Irish aristocrats abandoned their land and left.
Barry’s third story takes place in 1915. The RMS Lusitania was torpedoed by the Germans off the Old Head of Kinsale with tragic loss of life.
On a lighter note, William Penn (1644 to 1718), founder of Pennsylvania, was Clerk of the Admiralty Court in Kinsale. Finally, William Dampier and Alexander Selkirk set sail from Kinsale in 1703. Their exploits would lead to the writing of Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, first published in 1719.

For me the city is also important because its where Methodism made a definite beachhead, courtesy of the Wesley’s themselves, and the Methodist Church and the Temperance Hall are still alive and well here…

We wandered around the town, which is definitely colorful….

Partly the town is like it is because its a tourist trap, and a summer holiday destination. But its a nice place to be trapped. It has some great bookshops, and I bought my Oxford Companion to Irish Literature, here…

But you can ignore the touristy parts, luring you in to eat or drink…. well mostly ignore….
And just enjoy the harbor and the flowers, and the local musicians if you like…

The lad is playing a harmonium=squeeze box.