The very attractive town of Kinsale is just 29km (16 miles) directly south of Cork City.  Kinsale has a population of approximately 2,000 people.  This historic town has a most important role in Irish tourism and is known as the ‘Gourmet Capital’ of Ireland.  It is also one of the most successful and popular visitor destinations in Ireland.  Kinsale has many popular attractions, which include heritage, gourmet restaurants, sailing, deep-sea angling and golf and has been designated an Irish Heritage Town.  Early settlers in Ireland came to live in the area, which we now know as Kinsale.  Indeed the Old Head of Kinsale has been attributed as the site for some of the earliest settlers in Ireland.  Later a number of Christian settlements were established in the surrounding countryside.

Every visitor to Kinsale is captivated by its beautiful setting, with the long waterfront, narrow winding streets and Compass Hill rising sharply behind the town. The old fortifications of Charles Fort and James Fort guard the narrow entrance to Kinsale from the sea.  The town has poignant memories of the sinking of the liner ‘Lusitania’ in 1915, off the Old Head of Kinsale, and it was in the courthouse the inquest into the incident took place.

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