Treasure Ireland: You don’t have to travel far for the perfect holiday

If I’m making the place sound a little bit twee here, nothing could be further from the truth.

For the charm of this resort on the County Cork coast is rooted in the fact that – as well as its history and beautiful aspect – it is a working town.

My wife and I first went there 18 years ago on our honeymoon, not knowing what to expect, and loved it.

On that occasion we stayed in a cottage and spent more than one evening across the road enjoying oysters and Guinness at the historic Spaniard Inn which has welcomed such diverse drinkers over the centuries as the real-life Robinson Crusoe, Alexander Selkirk, and the former Republic of Ireland football manager Jack Charlton.

This time we were in the refurbished Actons Hotel on the seafront with a room looking out over the pretty harbour, around which Kinsale’s pastel-painted houses stack back onto the surrounding hillsides.

Here, you are two minutes from the town centre’s pubs and restaurants and full advantage should be taken of the Actons’ excellent full Irish breakfast.

Just down the road is the Norman church of St Multose.

Its churchyard includes some of the graves of the victims of the Lusitania disaster – the Cunard liner was sunk of the Old Head of Kinsale by a German submarine in 1915, an act that ultimately brought the United States into the First World War.

There’s a Lusitania memorial out on the Old Head Road, too, looking out to the Atlantic where nearly 1,200 passengers and crew perished.

The Lusitania sinking is just one of many historical incidents that have played their part in Kinsale’s story – from the landing of a Spanish invasion force to support Irish rebels fghting the Crown, to the fascinating tale of the Kinsale Giant, the 8f 3in Patrick Coter O’Brien.

These, and many more stories, are the province of Dermot Ryan (021 477 2729, dermotryankinsale@gmail.com), the local guide, who is not just a true scholar, but a gentleman, too.

To test Kinsale’s reputation as the cuisine capital of Ireland, we called in at Fishy Fishy Restaurant which specialises, as you may have guessed, in locally-caught seafood.

To provide just a hint of its menu’s delights, I had the crab and asparagus starter followed by pan-fried sea bream on steamed broccoli with toasted almonds in a lemon-scented hollandaise sauce, and finished with a vanilla panna cotta with a passion fruit sauce.