Cork's 'practically topless' women gave royal visitors an eyeful in 1518

A delegation of royal visitors to Cork in the 16th century found women clothed in such loose fitting dress that breasts of “every size” were visible.

An aid to Archduke Ferdinand of Habsburg, who arrived in Kinsale on June 6, 1518, seeking shelter from stormy weather, wrote an explicit account of meeting “practically topless” women.

The account, originally written in Old French, has been translated to form part of a new book documenting the archduke’s unexpected four-day visit to Ireland.