Kinsale’s warm welcome and warm food make it ideal to visit

THE waitress in Kinsale’s cosy cafe, Poet’s Corner, confides: “if you were to listen to all the chat and gossip in here, you would have enough material for ten novels.”

The cafe on Main Street is also a book exchange and a beacon of light and warmth as dusk falls outside and the wind bites hard.

Climbing and descending for a few hours via ancient flights of hidden steps, known as Sallyports, exploring the town’s historic past, lead down to little streets lined with restaurants, music pubs, cafes, art galleries, designer workplaces and gift shops.