Desmond's Castle in Kinsale is an example of a residential defensive tower from the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries. A stone, three-story building was in the past, inter alia, a prison. Today it houses the International Wine Museum, which shows the routes along which wine reached Ireland.
The castle was built around 1500 by Maurice Fitzgerald as a customs office. From the beginning of the 17th century, it served as a prison. Among others, captured French and Spanish sailors and smugglers were held here. In the second half of the 17th century, a fire broke out in the prison, killing many French sailors. Since then, the building has come to be known as the "French Jail".
The castle is a square, stone structure with irregularly placed windows. At its rear there is a two-story granary. The interiors are vaulted and divided into smaller rooms. The International Wine Museum has been operating in the castle since 1997. It focuses primarily on showing Ireland's connections with wine routes in Europe. Kinsale has been the main Irish port since the 17th century for shipments of French wine. Many Irish traders were forced to leave the island after the wars with William of Orange and the siege of Limerick in 1691.
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