Bret already added a bunch of pictures from our trip to Kinsale.

Things started out a bit rough.  The place we thought we would have breakfast at before we hopped on the bus turned out to be closed AND we saw our first 8am spill-out-of-the-pub brawl (that is there was a brawl spilling out of a pub when we walked by it, we were not spilling out of the pub at 8am).  We found a scone and coffee before we jumped on the bus though, so things improved quickly.

Kinsale is only about 15 miles away from Cork, but the bus ride took about an hour.  It was very scenic.  Our first adventure was a walk out to Charles Fort.  The sun came out of hiding while were on the high road to the fort and stayed with us for the rest of the day!

Charles Fort was built in in the late 1680s to protect the port of Kinsale from a naval attack.  It was named in honor of King Charles II (who, by the way, had seven mistresses and 12 illegitimate children, but no heirs when he died in 1685).  While the fort is considered an excellent example of 17th century pentagon forts, it was unable to withstand the only siege ever waged against it because it was vulnerable to land attacks (there is a big hill right behind it).    After Charles II died, his successor, James II (a Catholic), was ousted in favor William of Orange (a protestant).  A war, the Williamite war (or the Jacobite war if you were for James II) ensued.  The fort was a hold out for James II, but was taken by William of Orange’s forces after a 13 day siege.  After that, the Brits used it as a military base until Irish Independence in 1921. The fort has been restored in the last few decades.  It is pretty cool.  Here are some of my pictures:

The lighting was so lovely.  It really brought out the great texture of the place.

My favorites.

The Sally Port!!

and my special friend…

It turns out Kinsale is the sister city to my hometown, Newport, RI.  The grand re-opening of the White House restaurant was even attended by Patrick Kennedy.