Monday finds us in Kinsale, a historic town along the southern coast of Ireland. The Celts were here in 500 BC, mining copper to make bronze. It has a perfect harbor for sailing ships, and many of the ships from the Spanish Armada were moored here. Desmond Castle, shown above, was a Spanish armory during Spain's 1601 occupation of Kinsale. The Lusitania was torpedoed just off Kinsale's shores, and only a few years later the Titanic set off on its fateful voyage. The Kinsale area was originally an oak forest, the trees long since gone and used to make ships, famous buildings around Great Britain, and even casks for the wine trade.
Kinsale is a small tourist town with lots of expensive homes. Great food as well. I usually do not care for mussels, but the ones I had were wonderful. Also great fish and chips.
Kinsale is the perfect natural harbor for sailing ships. Charles Fort, and it's sister James Fort, protected the inner harbor. It reminded us of the harbor in Havana, complete with a chain that was pulled across the entrance to keep invaders out. Pirate ships were encouraged to stay over, giving them easy access to the Spanish galleons returning from America laden with gold. Both "Robinson and Crusoe" and "Pirates of the Caribbean" have close connections to Kinsale.
Our tour guide Susie, along with the local guides, are doing an excellent job of explaining Ireland's complicated history and its relationship to Northern Ireland (Ulster), and the United Kingdom. Charles Fort for instance was only attacked once, and was defeated. It was later torched during the Irish Civil War to prevent it from being used.
More ruins within the fort.
Guinness is Ireland's most famous beer, although there are lots of local breweries as well. We see these old advertisement posters everywhere.
We are off to the Dingle Peninsula tomorrow, and the weather is supposed to be fantastic.
No comments:
Post a Comment