It's not exactly shaped like a star, but it is shaped like a turtle.

This is Patrick. Patrick was our docent at Charles Fort in Kinsale, the southernmost port town in Ireland. Patrick was extremely knowledgeable and had a distinct, engaging manner that made the tales of the centuries-old stronghold come alive and really resonate for the choir. Charles Fort, you see, was built by the British in the style of the “Star-Shape” forts, which were strategically important because outside attackers could always be fired upon from two or more angles, based on the locations of the parapets. The crossfire made laying siege to one of these forts particularly difficult. But when your chorister returns home, you may hear less about the strategic advantages of building a fort in a star shape than you hear about Patrick (he's so dreamy).

After spending some quality time with Patrick on a walking tour of the grounds and surviving structures of Charles Fort, we were treated by our tour managers Liz and Dominic to some ice cream and a picnic lunch. After lunch, we made our way into the town of Kinsale proper, and St. Multose’s Church where we gave our Saturday night concert.

The touring choir had a lot of quality time in St. Multose’s Church, a Church of Ireland that pre-dates the ruins of Cashel you saw in pictures a few days ago. The vicar of the Church asked the girls whether they thought the ruins of Cashel were older, and he informed us that many people think the St. Multose’s church is younger than the ruins of Cashel because St. Multose’s still has its roof. He also let us know that the most recent addition—the “new wing” the church—was completed in 1521.

After a productive rehearsal at St. Multose’s, we walked through Kinsale to a restaurant for dinner. Kinsale is unofficially known as the “culinary capital of Ireland,” and dinner tonight did not disappoint. After the meal, we returned to the Church to perform our concert, which occurred simultaneously with the commencement of Kinsale’s Arts Week. It was a great experience in a wonderful venue!

Tonight, tour manager Dominic let me know that the Benefit Concert at Dun Laoghaire a few evenings ago raised over €1,500 for the Maritime Museum. At this evening's concert, St. Multose’s was collecting voluntary donations for the establishment of a daycare center in the town of Kinsale. We hope they raised a decent amount as well!

Tomorrow we leave the Imperial Hotel in Cork and make our way towards Ennistymon. On the way, the touring choir will perform at St. Mary’s Catholic Church as part of their Sunday mass in an after-mass impromptu concert. We’re also doing more sightseeing along the western shore of the Emerald Isle.

Twenty-five pictures from today are online now at http://picasaweb.google.com/pgcireland

Since we leave our hotel tonight, we’re not 100% certain of the ease of Internet access for the next few days. Again, we’ll try to update at the very least once daily.

We hope you’ve been enjoying the blog and the pictures.. Feel free to leave a comment to let us know you’re reading!