Kinsale

Kinsale, a municipal borough and seaport of County Cork, at the head of Kinsale Harbour, which is formed by the estuary of the river Bandon, 24 miles SSW. of Cork by a railway (1863). Down to the Union Kinsale returned two members; thenceforward one until 1885. The harbour, landlocked, is about 2 miles long, and is capable of containing 300 ships. Its once flourishing trade has passed to its rivals Cork and Queenstown. On the Old Head of Kinsale, a promontory stretching southward into the Atlantic, stands a lighthouse whose light, 236 feet above high-water, is visible for 21 miles. Pop. (1851) 5506; (1891) 4605. In 1601, 3000 Spaniards landed at Kinsale in order to fight for the O'Neill confederacy. Here James II. landed on 12th March 1689, and here he re-embarked in July 1690. In the following October the fort was captured by Marlborough.