Kinsale (/kɪnˈseɪl/ kin-SAYL; Irish: Cionn tSáile, meaning 'head of the brine'[2]) is a historic port and fishing town in County Cork, Ireland.

Located approximately 25 km (16 mi) south of Cork City on the southeast coast near the Old Head of Kinsale, it sits at the mouth of the River Bandon, and has a population of 5,991 (as of the 2022 census)[1] which increases in the summer when tourism peaks.

In January 1334, under a charter granted by King Edward III of England, the Corporation of Kinsale was established to undertake local government in the town.

These Town Commissioners became the Kinsale Council under the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 and the Kinsale Town Council existed until 2014 when this layer of local government was abolished in Ireland as part of measures to reduce the budget deficit following the financial crisis of 2008–2010 (see Post-2008 Irish economic downturn).

As a result, the battle of Kinsale took place at the end of the Nine Years War in which English forces, led by Charles Blount, 8th Baron Mountjoy, defeated the rebel Irish force, led by Hugh O'Neill, 2nd Earl of Tyrone and Red Hugh O'Donnell, two Gaelic princes from Ulster.

An underwater chain used to be strung between the two forts across the harbour mouth during times of war to scuttle enemy shipping by ripping the bottoms out of incoming vessels.

[citation needed] James II landed at Kinsale in March 1689 with a force of 2,500 men,[23] raised with the support of King Louis XIV, as part of his campaign to regain power in England, Scotland and Ireland.

In 1690, James II and VII returned to exile in France from Kinsale, following his defeat at the Battle of the Boyne by William III of England (also Stadtholder William III of the House of Orange-Nassau) after the 'Glorious Revolution' (or Revolution of 1688) in England against the background of wars involving France under King Louis XIV.

Kinsale, with its "electrifyingly bright streets", was rated as among the "20 most beautiful villages in the UK and Ireland" by Condé Nast Traveler in 2020.

This bridge replaced an older cast iron structure of the early 1880s which was located approximately 3 km (1.9 mi) upstream on the River Bandon, near Tisaxon More (Tigh Sacsan Mór).

[39] The Kinsale Red Cross has 2 ambulances which are housed in a purpose-built building in Church Lane and crewed by trained volunteers.

Pubs and hotels in the town host concerts by jazz and blues groups throughout the weekend, including on the last Monday of October (which is a bank holiday in Ireland).

Kinsale is twinned with: Residential developments in the 21st century include the Convent Garden scheme near the historic centre.

[49] This development involves the conversion of the former St Josephs Convent of the Sisters of Mercy on Ramparts Lane into 79 apartments and the building of 94 houses in the grounds.

[citation needed] A further residential development, Abbey Fort, includes 260 units at the north end of Kinsale.