Kinsale (/kɪnˈseɪl/kin-SAYL; Irish: Cionn tSáile, meaning 'head of the brine'[2]) is a historic port and fishing town in County Cork, Ireland. Located approximately 25 km (16 mi) south of Cork City on the southeast coast near the Old Head of Kinsale, it sits at the mouth of the River Bandon, and has a population of 5,991 (as of the 2022 census)[1] which increases in the summer when tourism peaks.
Kinsale is a holiday destination for both Irish and overseas tourists.[3] The town is known for its restaurants,[4] including the Michelin-starred Bastion restaurant,[5] and holds a number of annual gourmet food festivals.[6]
The corporation existed for over 500 years until the passing of the Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840, when local government in Kinsale was transferred to the town commissioners who had been elected in the town since 1828. These Town Commissioners became the Kinsale Council under the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 and the Kinsale Town Council existed until 2014 when this layer of local government was abolished in Ireland as part of measures to reduce the budget deficit following the financial crisis of 2008–2010 (see Post-2008 Irish economic downturn). It returned two members to the Irish House of Commons prior to its abolition in 1800.[citation needed]
In its history, Kinsale has also important occasional links with Spain. In 1518 Archduke Ferdinand, later Emperor Ferdinand I, paid an unscheduled visit to the town, during which one of his staff wrote a remarkable account of its inhabitants.[14][15]
In 1649, Prince Rupert of the Rhine declared Charles II as King of England, Scotland and Ireland at St Multose's Church in Kinsale upon hearing of the execution of Charles I in London by Parliamentarian forces during the English Civil War.[19] The Virginia trading fleet made this harbour the safest destination during their wartime voyages.[20]
Charles Fort, located at Summer Cove and dating from 1677 in the reign of Charles II, is a bastion-fort that guards the entrance to Kinsale Harbour. It was built to protect the area and specifically the harbour from the use by the French and Spanish in the event of a landing in Ireland. James's Fort, which dates from the reign of King James VI and I, is located on the other side of the cove, on the Castlepark peninsula. An underwater chain used to be strung between the two forts across the harbour mouth during times of war to scuttle enemy shipping by ripping the bottoms out of incoming vessels.[citation needed]
From 1694, Kinsale served as a supply base for Royal Navy vessels in southern Ireland, and a number of storehouses were built; it was limited to smaller vessels, however, due to the sandbar at the mouth of the river.[22]
English navigator and privateer Captain Woodes Roger mentions Kinsale in the memoir of his 1708 expedition from Cork; in particular, he mentions a pair of rocks known as 'the Sovereigne's Bollacks' on which his ship almost ran aground.[23][24] Kinsale's naval significance declined after the Royal Navy moved its victualling centre from Kinsale to Cork harbour in 1805 during the Napoleonic Wars in the period of France's First Empire.[citation needed]
Long Quay, Kinsale, c. 1900
When the ocean liner RMS Lusitania was sunk by a U-boat of the German Empire on 7 May 1915 on a voyage from New York City to Liverpool during the First World War, some of the bodies and survivors were brought to Kinsale and the subsequent inquest on the bodies recovered was held in the town's courthouse.[25] A statue in the harbour commemorates the effort. The Lusitania memorial is at Casement Square in Cobh, to the east of Cork city.
Kinsale was linked by a branch line via Farrangalway and Ballymartle to the Irish railway system of the Cork, Bandon and South Coast Railway and its successors from 1863 until 1931, when the branch was closed by the Great Southern Railways during a low point in Kinsale's economic fortunes. The station, inconveniently located for the town and harbour, was on Barrack Hill and the line ran to a junction at Crossbarry on the Cork (Albert Quay) to Bandon line.[26]
In 2005, Kinsale became Ireland's second Fair Trade Town, with Clonakilty being the first. Kinsale, with its "electrifyingly bright streets", was rated as among the "20 most beautiful villages in the UK and Ireland" by Condé Nast Traveler in 2020.[27]
Transport
Bus Éireann provides Kinsale's primary means of public transport. Buses regularly operate from Kinsale to Cork City, with most of these stopping at Cork Airport on the way. Kinsale and Bandon are linked by public transport with a bus service provided by East Cork Rural Transport.
The Archdeacon Duggan Bridge, on the R600 road to the south-west of the town, was opened in March 1977 and named after Father Tom Duggan MC OBE, a chaplain in both WWI and WWII, and later a missionary priest in Peru. This bridge replaced an older cast iron structure of the early 1880s which was located approximately 3 km (1.9 mi) upstream on the River Bandon, near Tisaxon More (Tigh Sacsan Mór).[citation needed]
Education
There are a number of primary and secondary-level schools in the area.[28] The town's community school was awarded "Best School in the Republic of Ireland" twice,[29][citation needed] as well as receiving awards at the BT Young Scientist Exhibition in 2014.[30]
Kinsale College offers a number of further education courses,[31] and the town also has a school of English.[citation needed]
Community and sports groups
Kinsale Yacht Club (KYC) began in 1950 and today is a sailing club that runs events for all ages of sailors and social activities throughout the year. Junior sailing includes Optimists, Lasers and 420's. The yacht classes include Squib (keelboat), International Dragon (keelboat) and A-Class Catamaran as well as three Cruiser Classes (Class I, II and III).[32]
The Kinsale GAA club plays in the Carrigdhoun division of Cork GAA.[35] They won the Cork Football Intermediate County Championship in 2011, the first time since 1915.
Kinsale Badminton[36] club which is affiliated with Badminton Ireland is based in St Multose Hall Kinsale. It caters to both adult and juvenile players and enters teams in Cork county Leagues and Cups.
The Kinsale Branch of the Irish Red Cross has been in existence since 1939 and is staffed by volunteers, who are present at local events and activities – including the annual Kinsale Sevens rugby event.[37] The Kinsale Red Cross has 2 ambulances which are housed in a purpose-built building in Church Lane and crewed by trained volunteers.
Kinsale is the first 'Transition Town' in Ireland, and the Transition Town community organisation, supported by Kinsale town council, holds meetings locally. It has taken some guidance from the Kinsale Energy Descent Action Plan 2021, which has spawned further Transition Towns worldwide.[40]
Entertainment and culture
Kinsale quayside
Kinsale hosts an annual jazz festival, which takes place during the last weekend of October. Pubs and hotels in the town host concerts by jazz and blues groups throughout the weekend, including on the last Monday of October (which is a bank holiday in Ireland).[41][42]
The monumental steel, originally unpainted, sculpture The Great Wall of Kinsale, by Eilis O'Connell and installed in 1988 to celebrate Kinsale's achievements in the Tidy Towns competition, stands by Pier Road and Town Park.[43]
The town forms part of the Bandon-Kinsale electoral district on Cork County Council and is part of the Cork South-West constituency for Dáil Éireann elections.
Residential developments in the 21st century include the Convent Garden scheme near the historic centre.[47] This development involves the conversion of the former St Josephs Convent of the Sisters of Mercy on Ramparts Lane into 79 apartments and the building of 94 houses in the grounds. After several years of inactivity,[48] construction and sales activity recommenced in 2015 and 2016.[citation needed]
A further residential development, Abbey Fort, includes 260 units at the north end of Kinsale.[49] Initial phases were completed in 2007–2012. Part of the 22-acre site at Abbey Fort was sold by the National Asset Management Agency in December 2015.[50]
Demographics
As of the 2011 census, ethnically Kinsale was 76.5% White Irish, 18.5% other white, 0.5% black, 1% Asian, and 1% 'other', with 2.5% not stated.[51] In terms of religion, the 2011 census captured a population that was 76% Catholic, 10% other stated religions (mainly Protestant), 11% with no religion, and 3% not stated.[51]
^"On Census Day, April 23rd 2006". Ireland News: Top Story. Irish Times. 1 July 2008. Archived from the original on 5 September 2008. Retrieved 27 January 2009. Irish Times 1 July 2008
^"Kinsale Restaurant Week". irishtimes.com. Irish Times. 9 February 2019. Archived from the original on 9 February 2019. Retrieved 14 October 2019. The town runs three annual food events, with [Kinsale Restaurant Week], its Gourmet Festival, which in October celebrates its 43rd year, and the National Chowder Cook Off in April
^Lee, JJ (1981). "On the accuracy of the Pre-famine Irish censuses". In Goldstrom, J. M.; Clarkson, L. A. (eds.). Irish Population, Economy, and Society: Essays in Honour of the Late K. H. Connell. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press.
^Hiram Morgan (2016). Ireland 1518: Archduke Ferdinand's visit to Kinsale and the Dürer Connection. Cork. ISBN9781874756248.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^"Charles II - volume 161: July 1–7, 1666." Calendar of State Papers Domestic: Charles II, 1665-6. Ed. Mary Anne Everett Green. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1864. 485-510. British History Online. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
^Lawrence, Felicity (7 April 2007). "Article on Transition Towns". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 12 November 2012. Retrieved 27 January 2009.
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