Trip to Kinsale

At the end of October, we decided that it was time to visit some of Ireland. We booked three nights at a B&B near Kinsale, a charming town on the South coast of Ireland. We chose it because it is claimed to be the food capital of Ireland, it is a transition town, and it had a jazz festival happening that week-end.

On our way, we stopped and visited the Rock of Cashel (an ancient castle) and Cahir Castle (pronounced "care", a modern 12th century castle). Saturday was a downpour all day long so we mostly played games. After sunset the rain stopped and we were able to visit Kinsale by night, eat, and listen to some "jazz" (actually it was genuine blues, and even some country and western -- it felt very strange to hear American music in such a traditional Irish environment). The food was great every evening, living up to the claims.

Next day, sunny and shiny, we did an abridged version of our rained-out itinerary. That is, some coastal driving, see Drombeg Stone Circle, visit some smaller towns, see Blarney castle, and then head to Cork. The small towns like Clonakilty and Brandon were very quaint and the people very warm and friendly. Cork looked austere industrial and the major jazz festival that weekend made it very busy. Too bad we didn't have time to visit more of it but I am sure the countryside was more worth visiting than the big cities.

The last day we saw Kinsale by day and visited the two forts that once defended the harbor. James Fort is much smaller and it is not open for visiting but you can have a nice stroll from Kinsale Marina to the top of the hill/peninsula from where you can see all of Kinsale. Charles Fort is a huge impressive star-shaped fort with layers of history and layers of vegetation fighting to conquer the ruins. The grass will prevail in the end!

Here are some photos from our trip:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/darxan/sets/72157608814703524/