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Rang

Ireland's painted harbour town

Kinsale

A harbour town in County Cork whose narrow streets are lined with shops painted in strong, cheerful colours.

kinsale
Photo: Christopher Michel, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Why Kinsale is shopfront yellow

Kinsale is a small port on the south coast of Ireland, in County Cork, at the mouth of the Bandon river. It is an old town; a battle fought here in 1601 was a turning point in Irish history, and two star-shaped forts guard the harbour. Its streets are narrow and winding, following the medieval plan. Shops, pubs and houses are painted in bright, often clashing colours, yellow next to blue next to pink, with hand-lettered signs and slate roofs. Brightly painted fronts are common across the west and south of Ireland, and Kinsale is among the best known for them. The town also has a strong reputation for food.

Shopfront yellow#F5C518Shopfront blue#2F6FC2Shopfront pink#F0468COrange#F28C28Slate grey#5F6266

Values are fair approximations of what the eye sees there, not measurements.

About this page

Written by the Rang desk with AI assistance. Background: "Kinsale" on Wikipedia. If you know Kinsale and we have it wrong, tell us.

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Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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