Kinsale, County Cork

We were excited to sail to Kinsale - just a quick 18 miles west of Crosshaven and the south central part of County Cork.  We had heard everyone talk about Kinsale as the "culinary capital of Ireland, possibly Europe" - wow!  They said "just brilliant place to be".  We woke up to heavy fog and a misty rain and motored out of Cobh Harbour (pronounced "Cove").  Our views of the beautiful Irish coastline were sheets of white - with hidden objects scattered around.  We flipped on the radar and watched the miles tick off.  Not really what we had imagined the sail would be like.

As we arrived at Kinsale Yacht Club, we found a very busy town with buses of tourists and parking lots, so different than Crosshaven.  We walked across the street from our slip and registered at the marina and then headed into town, dodging cars and people.  Our lunch was not that great and I was feeling like I wanted to go back to Crosshaven.  The next morning we decided to take a local walking tour, Historic Stroll Kinsale, that talked about the history of the town.  If we were going to stay, maybe they could help us find an affinity for this place.  It worked!!  Barry's stories were so intriguing and gave us a great deal of perspective on how Kinsale was integral to Irish history, British history, Spanish history and even effected Northern Ireland and Brexit.  Now every place we walked, we understood what that exact spot meant to the town and the people.

We decided we would stay in Kinsale for a week.  We spent the time visiting pubs, walking around forts, riding bicycles and planning our upcoming land trip through Ireland.  It turned out to be a fun week and well worth the visit.

The gorgeous view of the Irish coast as we left Cobh Harbour

The view of Charles Fort as we sailed into Kinsale Harbour, it was less than 1/4 mile away

Cool yacht clubs here in Ireland

Nice slip on the face dock (Terrapin second boat on right), but a bit exposed to gales

The Bulman Pub

Kinsale city logo

"...money never made the man nor wealth a happy home"

Wednesday Farmers Market in Kinsale

The path along the river - there is a door just past the lamp post on the right - where do you think that goes?

When you have a big tide, some boats will use the opportunity to clean their bottoms (in this case the blue part of the sailboat tied to the wall) It is a delicate process, but essentially the boat has to be secured to the wall to ensure it doesn't fall over and that it rests on the keel.  Once high tide comes back in, the boat is clean and ready to float off.

County Cork Logo

Sewer cover in County Cork

A pub around every corner - this is The Spaniard

An old castle made into a pub (more about the Spanish on another post)

A LR Defender around every corner

Charles Fort (more on another post)

Small boats, big boats, motor boats, sail boats

Along the new(er) reclaimed property in Kinsale - this used to be 12 feet under water (more later - so much to share).

Not a bad view for a week

The view of Kinsale from James Fort

The old County Courthouse (building with wood shingles on the left) which was also the location of the trial for the Lusitania tragedy and is now a museum.  It was also the market on the water's edge where merchants would bring goods by boat to sell - notice how the streets come from all directions...the right side, where the guy is walking, used to be the water and the left side was a pier.