KINSALE, which has been called the Plymouth of Ire land, is a seaport town in the county of Cork. The town is situated at the mouth of the river Bandon, and is built undt r Compass-hill. It is about a mile in extent. The chief street runs round Compass-hill, and there are others above, which are connected with the main street by steep lanes. The streets are narrow, but they contain many good houses. There are six parishes in the town and su burbs. The harbour is very commodious, and secure. The distance between Sandy Cove Point and Prehain Point, which form the entrance to the harbour, is not half a mile, and between them is a safe passage in four fathoms of water. There is a light-house on a narrow point of land about five miles southward. The river is navigable for large vessels for nearly twelve miles above the town, but large ships of war are prevented by a bar from coming into the basin.
A fort, to which the Duke of Ormond gave the name of Charles' Fort, defends the entrance to the harbour. It was begun by the Earl of Orrery in 1670, and cost upwards of 70,0001. It stands at some distance from the town, on a neat and strong place ; is garrisoned with a regiment of foot, and commands the harbour so completely, that vessels must pass within pistol-shot of it. When it was built, the old fort on the other side of the river was turned into a block-house.
This harbour was so much frequented, in time of war, with homeward and outward bound East and West' India fleets, and also by large squadrons of our ships of war, that there was a provision in the leases, that the inhabitants should pay double rent in such a season. Kinsale sends
one member to the imperial parliament. There are 12 burgesses, who elect each other. The political influence of the burgh belongs to Lord de Clifford. There are two well-built villages, Cove and Scilly, on the opposite shore.
Kinsale is a town of great antiquity. It was incorpo rated by charter in the reign of king Edward III. Henry VIII. conferred upon the town a large standard, embroid ered with the arms of England. When the Spaniards took possession of the town in 1601, the charter was forfeited ; but after the place was reduced, and the Spaniards taken prisoners, it was restored. James II. landed here on the 12th March, 1688 ; but, in the autumn of 1690, the earl of Marlborough took the old fort by storm, and obtained possession of Charles' Fort and the town'.
There are at Kinsale about 400 boats, of about 20 tons each, called Hookers, which are employed in fishing, and which supply the markets of Cork, Kinsale, and Bandon. These vessels are good sea-boats, and are serviceable to ships in the way of pilotage. Four men is the general num ber for each boat, and they are exempted from impress ment. Money was coined in Kinsale in 1672. Some of the penny pieces still remain. Population 10.000. Distance from Dublin 136 miles, south-west West Long, 8° 38', North Lat. 51° 42'.—See our art. IRELAND.