Charles Fort

Charles Fort was begun in 1677 to designs by William Robinson, in the star-shaped bastioned style developed in Europe to resist artillery, and it is among the largest military installations of its period in Ireland. Its purpose was to command the harbour mouth, and against ships it was formidable. The weakness was recognised at the time and criticised by contemporaries: the ground rises behind it, so guns on the high land could fire down into the fort. That is exactly what happened in 1690, when Williamite forces under Marlborough took it in thirteen days by bombarding from above. It remained a British garrison until 1922, was burned during the Civil War, and has been conserved since the 1970s. The site is large - bastions, barracks, magazines and officers' quarters - with a coastal walk from Kinsale along the water, and guided tours run in season.

What you actually see

• The star plan - bastions and ramparts in the seventeenth-century artillery style.
• The barracks and quarters - the garrison buildings inside the walls.
• The harbour command - the position controlling the mouth at Kinsale.
• The high ground behind - the flaw that lost it in 1690.

When to go

April to October for the guided tours and the coastal walk from Kinsale, which takes about an hour each way. Reduced opening in winter. Two hours for the fort itself.

Honest expectations

Large and exposed, with a lot of walking on uneven ramparts and open drops in places. Many buildings are roofless shells. Ticketed. Wind off the harbour is constant.

Nearby

Kinsale town is west; James Fort faces it across the harbour mouth.