LITTLE NEWPORT

KINSALE
A postcard perfect Irish seaside town
February 1,2,3,4,5

After breaking some rules at Joy’s B & B (changing our breakfast order and not vacating the room until 10:25 AM – we are rebels), we board a bus to Kinsale through Cork City. As you may have gathered, we don’t have a car. We intended on getting a car from Sligo through our return to Dublin around February 20 – about 3 ½ weeks. The car rental was $1000.00, insurance was $1200.00. We decided to put the $2200.00 to better use – Guinness and hot whiskey, Ann’s adopted drink. Besides, Ann’s enjoying the bus rides (ann-hmmmm), honest….well, she does enjoy the side trips through the little towns that the buses take as opposed to the more direct train routes.

We arrive in Cork around noon and we have a two hour layover. The city is alive and, like everywhere else, in apparent renovation…more cranes, more housing developments. The city center area is like Grafton Street in Dublin – shops, restaurants, pedestrians and most notably, music stores. Within a 100 square yard area, we must have seen five of them. A well-dressed, ruddy faced middle-aged man with a bulbous nose approached us, asked with a smile where we’re from…his face then changed to sad-like, “do you have some money? I’m broke.” We continue walking,…I hear behind me, “Where ya from?”

We stopped in at The Old Oak, a restaurant/club which has different music venues within…rock in one place, dance in another…all at night, of course. The place at lunch time is crowded…decent prices and good food. We arrive in Kinsale where the bus drops us off at the harbor in front of our hotel on a sunny, even warm, afternoon. Ann breaks out her sunglasses. Gerard is sweating, but keep in mind, he is a walking piece of luggage. He’s wearing a long-sleeved t-shirt, collared shirt, sweater, sports jacket and raincoat with a liner….. just about every pocket has something in it.

It feels so good to be here. They even fly the American flag at the harbor and proudly refer to their town as “Little Newport”…lots of connections here to Rhode Island.
It is a good-sized harbor with a marina filled with sailless masts, a few powerboats and the Kinsale Yacht Club(hi Commodore Hank)….green hills in the background. There’s a little bit of Port Washington, Sausalito and New England here.

The hotel is Actons…very nice. We have been graciously upgraded to a room with a bay window overlooking the harbor. The place even has a leisure center – gym, pool, sauna, steam…the pool being the original attraction when Ann made the reservations months ago.

We drop our luggage and take a walk through the village. Small shops, colorful storefronts, winding, cobblestone streets with no construction in sight….nice! The “tidiest” town in Ireland we are told by the locals.

On the day we arrived in Ireland, January 11, a storm with gale winds hit Ireland, forcing us to remain in our plane for 30 minutes until they could open the doors. A fishing trawler from Kinsale went down during this storm and five men were drowned – three bodies were found….two are still missing. They’re still looking for the missing bodies on February 2.

Kinsale is noted for its restaurants…one is world-class, Fishy-Fishy, although it probably could use a different name. They only serve lunch and there’s always a wait. We have a great lunch there one afternoon after a 40 minute wait– mussels, chowder, fish casserole/stew.

One day we took a walking tour of the city. The tour is owned by Don Herlihy. I went to grammar school with a Don Herlihy. His father, Ed Herlihy was Jerry Lewis’ announcer in “King of Comedy.” Anyway, the walking tour was fantastic. The gist was that there was, in 1601, The Battle of Kinsale. The English won, the Irish lost, and the Spanish, allies of the Irish, stood by while the Irish were slaughtered. Supposedly, the battle had an effect on the current division of Ireland. The tour also touched on Sir Francis Drake (a privateer), Sir Walter Raleigh (imported the potato) Robinson Crusoe (based on a true character and true events except Friday), QE1, Spanish Armada, et. al.

One night, we were confronted by a drunk on the street. He mentioned, without prompting, Yeats and Lissadell to us as if he knew we had been there. He didn’t like the Gore-Booth sisters. He hated the English, claimed to be in the IRA, asked if we knew Gerry Adams and then said, “Hitler was a great man.” It was a conversation stopper. “He believed in what he was doing.” I broke away from his grasp of my arm as Ann walked away.

One day, bright and sunny, we stopped at “The Pretty Lace” , a knick-knack store operated by Deidre, a beautiful woman, about 70, angular face, long red hair with a voice indicating money and stature in her past. She was single but was previously married to a man who either was lost at sea or went to sea and never returned. They were both sailors and yacht owners. We asked where we should go between here and Galway. She said, “Dingle is lovely”. That’s all we had to hear.

Saturday we noticed a bride having her wedding pictures out on the harbor in front of our room. That night on the elevator, we ran into 2 brothers, Michael and Padraig. After a short conversation, they invited us to their brother Liam’s wedding reception which was happening at that moment. We declined…they were dressed up and we were not.

On the following night at 11:30 pm, Super Bowl Sunday, the hotel clerk set us up in front of a 42” plasma tv and turned on the game….he even made us sandwiches. At 1:00 am, Liam, the recent groom, comes down with his bride and joins us. They’ve been in their hotel room all day (“our honeymoon”). He’s drunk, she’s quiet. Liam describes himself as a red neck….keeps calling Prince “an embarrassment” during the half-time show. When they got up to leave, his wife kissed me on the lips. He asked, “May I kiss your wife?” He had no chance.

On our last day here, we took a four mile round trip walk around the harbor to Charles Fort. We walked through two quaint villages, Scilly and Summercove. The views were fantastic. When we saw the opening to the Atlantic Ocean, it was easy to envision the invading ships entering the harbor: The British to occupy, the Spanish to rule, the French and Dutch in search of riches. The fort itself is spectacular, strategically constructed in the 18th century by the British and never invaded. Our guide is very knowledgeable. On the way back, we stopped at the Bulman, a quintessential pub-restaurant. Two ladies are at the window having tea and scones, the guys are at the bar with a Guinness.

On our trip we seem to be hugging the water, be it rivers or the sea. This stay in Kinsale has been ideal. The hotel has been great: Perfect location, large room, high ceilings, long deep tub, and, as usual, a nice electric teapot in the room, and of course there was the 15Meter pool, great gym, attentive and friendly staff, unending view of the harbor , that plasma TV to watch the super bowl, lots of lounging areas, practically next door to Fishy Fishy, and the picturesque and challenging walks. This charming town is dripping with history, rocking pubs and we are way too comfortable….

We have to force ourselves to leave and get back on the road. Dingle awaits us and we are eager. We have opted for the Dingle Peninsula over the Ring of Kerry, having heard it was more unspoiled. We hit the internet and select a hotel set in the middle of town and we’re ready to leave tomorrow morning.