#islandnation – Entering Kinsale Harbour, east of the Bulman Buoy, is a prominent 200-foot cliff rising sharply above the sea. It is known as Hangman Point and was the location of a gibbet, a warning to everyone not to engage in piracy. Displayed there in 1675 was the head of one of six Irishmen who had murdered the Master and three crew aboard what was described as "a very rich ship," the St.Peter of Hamburg which had been bound for France. This gang sailed the vessel to the West Coast of Ireland where they were captured by the authorities led by Robert Southwell, Vice Admiral of Munster. Convicted and executed, their heads were displayed at different points along the coast, including one at Hangman Point.

The next time I am rounding the Bulman heading for Kinsale I'll take more note of Hangman Point about which I hadn't known a lot, though I did know of the roadside reminder out towards the Old Head of Kinsale of the female pirate Anne Bonney, another story of piracy from the locality. She was actually Anne Cormac, described as "a vivacious girl" who lived with her father, William, in a fine house on the edge of Bullen's Bay which was a haven for piracy on the south coast not far from Kinsale, providing a place to land stolen goods and get water and provisions.

She shared the maritime activities of the area, but her father was actually a successful Cork lawyer who emigrated from that area to the Carolinas in America where the doughty daughter was drawn to the sea, despite the best efforts of her father to steer her in other directions. This led her to falling for the charms of pirate and buccaneer 'Calico' Jack Rackham who was terrorising the coast of Bermuda.

 Anne took to the life of piracy, engaged in it by boarding ships and capturing and looting them and was regarded as a tough fighter. Despite pregnancies, she had her children fostered to continue her cutlass-bearing life. Captured eventually, both 'Calico' and Anne were sentenced to hang. Because she was again pregnant she was reprieved and her last words to 'Calico' before he faced the hangman, according to legend were: "If you had fought like a man, you would not now be hanged like a dog!"

I am not sure I would particularly like such a female type aboard, but out towards the Old Head of Kinsale there is a roadside plaque reminding passersby of Anne Bonney.

The story is told by John Thullier, well-known in the maritime world and in sailing after a lifetime involvement with boats. He is the retired Director of Kinsale Further Education College and steeped in the maritime tradition of the town. The College evolved from projects designed to introduce the maritime environment to students and providing training in marine skills.

He has compiled the history of Kinsale Harbour and told me how, on walks around the seafront of the town with his grandfather who was a good boat builder timber needed would be spotted, with it all explained to him as a youngster about what a boat needed to be sturdy. John recalled to me how Sundays were the day of leisure, so the men would go sailing and, "in soft hat and with shirt and tie!" Those were times when there was a different approach to sailing clothing!

"Kinsale Harbour – A History," published by The Collins Press, was launched this week at Kinsale Yacht Club. In it John Thullier charts the history of a town now known best for its tourism and food, but which he says must retain its focus of being a port and a maritime location.

Nestling on the River Bandon as it sweeps to the sea, Kinsale emerged as a settlement in the 6th century and has seen many changes.

"Really there are three harbours here, the inner, the middle and the outer and Kinsale has changed over the years as it evolved to meet the many challenges," he said as we chatted overlooking the harbour from the front of the Trident Hotel where the statue of a fisherman, resting and thinking, reminds patrons that this too was once a big fishing port and still retains fishing boat activity.

"The harbour has always provided a safe anchorage and prospered during the golden age of sail, victualling shops bound for the American colonies, the West Indies and trading with English and Continental ports. Many people will remember it for the Battle of Kinsale, but there is much more to the town and the maritime tradition is its main reason for existence. There was a Naval base to restrict threats of foreign invasion, there were pirates and smugglers, it was a shipping port, it evolved when the size of ships changed, it was a big fishing industry centre, that changed too as the industry and stocks moved. It still retains some fishing and it became a sea angling centre which gave it a new life.

Now it is still very active in the marine, as a sailing centre. There have been difficult times here in Kinsale, but the way a town like this survives is to focus on what it has best, that is the maritime role, its maritime resources and facilities."

Even where we sat talking about Kinsale, where the Trident Hotel stands, he told me was once a dockyard.

"My mother's family was involved in the fishing industry, on my father's side the family were boatbuilders, owners and members of various boards and public bodies engaged in the affairs of the harbour.

"The story of Kinsale is the history of its connection with the sea. Everything about Kinsale is of the sea and so it should remain," says John Thullier, whose book about this major sailing location is well worth reading.

And if you want to know what happened to Anne the pirate, John Thullier says:
"No precise information is available about her after Rackham's hanging. There are reports that she abandoned piracy, was reconciled with her father, remarried and had eight more children."

I like a happy ending!

Twitter: @TomMacSweeney