On Day 6, our schedule was fairly open. We took a guided tour of Charles Fort in the morning, 
followed by a short nature walk back into Kinsale.
We then had the afternoon for independent exploration. I took a hike over to James Fort, across the harbor from Charles Fort.
A very pleasant 4-mile round trip, during which time the weather had taken a turn for the better.
After a late lunch of fish and chips, I joined the tour group for a presentation/demonstration of the uilleann pipes by Diarmuid Granger. (We had the good fortune later in the week to see a performance by Diarmuid and his group, Natural Gas, at the Danny Mann pub in Killarney, and he was kind enough to come visit with us during his set break that evening.)
On the last evening in Kinsale, I went to the Kinsale Brewing Co. for a beer and a plate of oysters, and then sought out more live music. I found a duo playing folk music at the Blue Haven Hotel. In speaking with a fellow at the bar, I learned that the prior evening, Neil Young had played a concert in Cork, about 18 miles away. That would have been a treat!
We left Kinsale on Day 7, bound for Killarney in 
We then proceeded to Ilnacullin (Garinish Island)
in
for a nature hike. After lunch, we made a stop in Kenmare
before settling in Killarney, our home for the next 4 nights. Killarney was my favorite locale of the tour. Our hotel, the Old Weir Lodge, was top-notch, and its location was a 20-minute walk to downtown Killarney and a 30-minute walk to Killarney National Park and Ross Castle. That evening we had a presentation about “Irish life and living, past and present” – very engaging.
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