Weekender
Simon O’Connor’s Kinsale
My wife’s folks have a lovely cottage down in Kinsale,
and we’ve been going down for years. It feels like a home away from home.
On Friday, we’ll get to the cottage, and if it’s chilly, we’ll get the stove going.
If we get down in time for dinner, we’d go out to Cru or The Black Pig, both cosy spots with great local food and properly good wine lists.
Saturday morning would involve me sneaking off for a swim
around Sandycove Island. You meet locals doing the same thing, and you might even see seals or dolphins. On the way back, I’d grab some of John Barrett’s sausage rolls in Food U.
On Saturday night, we’d nearly always cook at home.
Kinsale’s shops have fantastic local produce, and the 1601 off-licence has a great selection of wines and local beers.
If we were going out, it would have to be pints in the Tap Tavern.
Mary Tap still runs the bar — there’s a coal fire burning, and it feels like you’re in her sitting room.
The best place for brunch is OHK Cafe;
hands-down, it has the best coffee in the town. If you are into a full-Irish, then it would have to be Mother Hubbards.
Before heading home, we’d always stop by a quiet little beach by James’s Fort
called Platters and Dishes, to walk the dog and swim out to the pontoon. Follow that with a pint and crisps in nearby pub The Dock and you feel like you’ve been on holiday for a week. Simon O’Connor is director of MoLI (Museum of Literature Ireland), Newman House, St Stephen’s Green, D2, see moli.ie