Desmond Castle is an example of an urban tower house located in the town of Kinsale in County Cork, Ireland. It was built as the Customs House for Kinsale about the year 1500 by the ninth Earl of Desmond [[Maurice Fitzgerald], following the grant of the custom of the port of Kinsale to the Earls of Desmond by King Henry VII in 1497. It was used for this purpose up until 1641 when it was converted into a naval prison, following the construction of another Customs House. The prisoners kept in the Castle were in the main French and Spanish, and the place became known locally as the French Prison as a result. The term urban means cities and towns as distinct from rural areas. ... A tower house stands on a hillock near Quin along the back road from Limerick to Ennis. ... Market Street in Kinsale, one of the towns oldest thoroughfares Kinsale (Cionn tSáile in Irish) is a town in County Cork, Ireland. ... County Cork (Contae Chorcaí in Irish) is the most southwesterly and the largest of the modern counties of Ireland. ... The title of Earl of Desmond has been held historically by lords in Ireland, first as a title outside of the peerage system and later as part of the English-controlled Peerage of Ireland. ... Henry VII (January 28, 1457 – April 21, 1509), King of England, Lord of Ireland (August 22, 1485 – April 21, 1509), was the founder of the Tudor dynasty and is generally acknowledged as one of Englands most successful kings. ...

In January 1747, a fire broke out killing 54 of the prisoners. In 1791, the castle was donated byby James Kearney MP to the town of Kinsale, and it was subsequently used as a town gaol till 1846, and during the Irish Famine as a workhouse. In 1938 it was taken into government hands, and in the 1990s was restored and opened to the public by the Office of Public Works. In 1997, the International Museum of Wine was added which details the links between Ireland and the wine trade, and is run by the Order of the Wine Geese. Starvation during the famine The Irish Potato Famine, also called The Great Famine or The Great Hunger (Irish: An Gorta Mór), is the name given to a famine which struck Ireland between 1846 and 1849. ... The Office of Public Works (OPW) is responsible for Irish Government and historic buildings in the Republic of Ireland. ...