Day Sixty-Eight - 17/11/2012 - Kinsale

     We took the bus to Kinsale today, one of County Cork's small seaside towns.  The bus that took us there drove past the Cork Airport, a smaller airport just south of the city.  The bus ride to Kinsale was full of tree-lined roads and the idyllic, omnipresent Irish fields.  We arrived in Kinsale in the early morning, and took a nice stroll along the harbour, headed towards the famed forts opposite the city centre.  The harbour revealed symbols of a seafaring way of life for the residents of Kinsale.  Statues of small sailing boats intersected the many docks, where yachts and other expensive-looking boats were moored at this seaside resort.  A popular vacation spot amongst the Irish, Kinsale exhibited a small village charm.  A Spanish Galleon mainmast monument had been built into the harbour wall in 2001 to commemorate the 1601 Battle of Kinsale, in which the Spanish Armada, which had sought refuge in Ireland after defeat, launched 4000 men from Kinsale.  We began the walk towards the forts, along Cork Road on the water, with small waterfalls to one side.  We came upon a massive bridge spanning the harbour and linking the James Fort peninsula to the mainland of Kinsale.  After crossing the bridge, we had to walk another half-kilometre up to the area with the fort, which was located just up the hill from a resort area built up from the peninsula's pier.  The fort was constructed in 1604, built with a ditch around its curtain walls, reinforced with sod.  Later fortifications included a citadel and guard tower.  It was captured by Cromwell, and later by the forces of King James II.  To get up to the fort, we walked through a small residential area, up a steep hill, to a sign that had been broken in half with all the paint stripped away.  The road turned to grass, and we walked along the muddy terrain higher and higher to the top of the seaside hill.  On each side of the hill, spectacular views of the harbour and town rolled out before us.  Eventually, without much ceremony, we came to the fort.  Unlike the touristy Fort Charles, Fort James has no visitor centre, no placard, and when we arrived, no visitors.  The fort is sealed with a heavy wooden door, and protected by a wall sitting atop a ditch that surrounds the fort.  Although we were unable to get in, the lonely fort was somehow quite romantic in the advancing twilight.  Much of the fort is still intact, although the later fortifications have fared better than the original buildings.  After circumnavigating the fort, we left through a grassy passage, where Meng discovered a secret stone staircase that led up to an isolated meadow, offering a fantastic view of the fort on one side, and the harbour and sea on the other.  At the end of the meadow opposite the fort, some type of monastery stood.  A very small square structure, with one wall fully intact featuring a cross, this structure was severely overgrown, such that it was impossible to venture more than a metre inside.  From this point on the hill, we got a great overhead view of Fort Charles in the twilight.  We watched pairs of sailboats race each other down Kinsale harbour, the voices of the excited occupants traveling clearly across the water.
     We ventured back toward the city centre to look at the historic side of Kinsale.  Returning via Cork Road and Pier Road, we stopped at a small chocolate shop.  The friendly proprrieter noticed my UCC sweatshirt and asked us how we were getting on.  Later, we walked up Pearse street and Market Square to go to Desmond Castle, better known as the Wine Museum.  Regrettably, this was closed, but we did get a nice look at the castle.  We walked down Chairmans Lane passing The Mansion House and The Giant's Cottage, two quaint, colorful houses lining the street.  At the bottom of the lane was The White House, a small art shop, and we meandered back towards the water, passing many art galleries and small craft shops.  We stopped at Ruby's, a small ice cream place, and afterwards at Dino's Italian Restaurant, with cheap food.  We waited in the cold for the bus back to Cork, along with many other day trip tourists, and barely found seats on the welcome bus.