DERMOT RYAN, who runs historical walking tours of Kinsale, describes his day
I GET UP about 7am, mostly because I’ve got a dog who wants to take me for a walk, but also because I love getting up early in the summer mornings.
Before I retired four years ago, I was the headmaster of the boys’ school and I’m a local, born and bred.
I’m very involved in the local historical society and I get queries e-mailed to me from all around the country, so after breakfast I spend a little time on those.
Then I head down to the tourist office, which is where my guided tours start from, to check if there are enough leaflets on display. If it has rained during the night, I’ll replace them.
My first walk starts at 10.30am and I tend to get a good mix of people. This morning I had people from Dublin, Holland and the US. The Americans are great, because they are always interested in history. I explained the link between William of Orange and Kinsale for our Dutch visitors.
Ideally, I take about 15 people in a group. I’ve travelled a lot myself and I know that if there are too many people, half of them can’t hear and it’s not fair on them. Luckily, my daughter is a trained guide, too, so she helps me out.
The tour takes about an hour and a quarter – longer if people want to stop a lot to ask questions or take pictures. The question I most often hear is why I never left Kinsale. Sometimes people’s sense of when the Famine actually occurred is a bit vague, so they wonder why I stayed.
For lunch I'll walk home. I live up behind Acton's Hotel, which is perfect – close, but not in the town. In the afternoons, I work on the Kinsale Record, an annual publication of the historical society of which I'm editor.
The next tour takes place at 4.30pm, so I’ll be back out telling people about all the unusual visitors we’ve had in Kinsale down through the centuries – Vikings, Normans, you name it, we’ve had them.
I also explain that in Kinsale we are walking on water, because the tidal waters still flow under the town.
People love to hear about the town’s link with the Lusitania, and various theories about who might have been responsible for its sinking.
By 6pm, I’m winding up and heading home for dinner. TV is a weakness but everybody’s got to have one. I particularly like ITV3, because it plays all the old detective series.
At the moment a lot of my evenings are tied up with helping organise the Kinsale Regatta, which takes place on the August bank holiday.
Being retired is fantastic. I do wonder now how I ever found time for all my hobbies before. Then it’s time to get the dog out once more.
** Dermot Ryan runs historical walking tours of Kinsale
** In conversation with Sandra O’Connell