Charles Fort        

Kinsale Harbor, Ireland              
After Spain's vaunted Armada had failed to bring England to its knees in 1588, Spain's King Phillip II (1527-1598) allied with Irish rebels in 1601 in the hopes of keeping the English busy in an unpleasant manner. Of the 6000 men that the Spanish sent to Kinsale only some 4000 made it (that famous English Channel weather always worked against the Spanish), and Ringcurran Castle, overlooking the harbor but easily assailed with British artillery from nearby high ground, was the focal point of a battle that left the Spanish and their Irish allies pretty effectively dead and/or scattered.

Charles Fort, named for King Charles II (1630-1685), was built by the British in the 1670's and 1680's atop the remains of Ringcurran Castle, a medieval fortification. Across the mouth of Kinsale Harbor, James' Fort had been built at the beginning of the 1600's atop another medieval(ish) fort, Castle Ny-Parke.

By 1690 King James II (1633-1701) was at war with William of Orange (1650-1702) over the English throne. Charles Fort was besieged by the Duke of Malborough (1650-1722), fighting for William: Again the high ground overlooking the fort proved to be its undoing.

Charles Fort remained a British Army barracks for the next few hundred years. England finally handed it over to Ireland as part of the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1920, but it was naturally burned by retreating anti-treaty forces in 1922, rendering the fort somewhat useless.

Charles Fort was named a National Monument in 1971, and has since been partly resored. Guided tours are available, as long as you're not in a wheelchair, since the ground is uneven.

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Charles Fort?
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