Ireland Day 5, Clonakilty, Charles Fort
Patrick 9/5/2008 4:40:00 AM
Just down the coast from Kinsale is Clonakilty, a neat little town famous mainly for its black pudding and Michael Collins. My favorite part of the town was the little market setup in the town square where I bought perhaps the best Danish I have ever had. I was planning on just stopping for a bite and some coffee before going on the Dromberg stone circle. Step 1 was completed successfully, the whole stone circle thing was a massive failure. My GPS was telling me to go places and I went, I don't think it knew where we were supposed to be going. In the end it served as a blessing in disguise as I got to see much of rural Cork. I did eventually make it back to Kinsale, and rewarded myself with a drink and lunch at the hotel bar. ![]()
After that I ventured out once more, this time in search of Charles Fort. I actually made it unscathed and had an amazing time walking around the fort. The Battle of Kinsale in 1601 basically prompted the building of Charles and James forts to protect the harbor. Charles is immense and at one time had over 100 cannons facing the seaward side of the fort. The harbor itself has only one way for ships to get in, a thin channel whose far edge sits maybe 1000m from the walls of the fort. Any ships attempting entry would have been smashed to pieces quite easily. The fort is very vulnerable on its landward side and was eventually captured successfully from that side.
Late night in Kinsale I ventured into my first Irish night club. Not much different then ours, the girls were doing all the dancing while the boys watched, a few trepid individuals attempted to join them but were quickly shooed away by the tribe :)
On to Dublin!!






lol says:
7.27.2009 at 7:09 AMlol