A two stage multi cache that will require trans-Atlantic cooperation between you and a fellow cacher from Kinsale's sister city, Newport, Rhode Island, USA.
First, some history, though.
Between 1775–1783, the crews of many American vessels were held prisoner in Kinsale during the War of Independence, many being held in Desmond Castle, then an imposing building on the outskirts of the town. Often the conditions were harsh, however Rev. William Hazlett, a Presbyterian Minister from nearby Bandon, and Reuben Harvey, a Quaker merchant in Cork came to their help.
The "twinning" of Newport and Kinsale was officially proclaimed on October 3, 1999. Since that time, there have been numerous exchanges between the two cities, which have a common interest in tourism and fine cuisine as well as sports such as sailing, rugby, and golf. In addition, there are strong cultural and social ties resulting from the many Newport citizens who invoke and honour their Irish heritage.
At the posted location (stage 1) is Desmond Castle which was built as the Customs House for Kinsale by Maurice FitzGerald, 9th Earl of Desmond, following the grant of the customs of the port of Kinsale to the Earls of Desmond by King Henry VII.
The castle has since been used as a prison, housing mainly Spanish and French prisoners (hence it's nickname The French Prison) however over the years American sailors have also been imprisoned here, as mentioned above.
Here you will find an information board about Desmond Castle. On the last (bottom) paragraph, you will find a number. This number will be represented by ABCD.
Now comes the trans-Atlantic cooperation part (stage 2)! You will need to get in contact with someone in Rhode Island who has found their Stage 1, and have recorded a similar four digit number.
1. Look below for notes that any geocacher in Rhode Island may have posted requesting a partner to exchange numbers with. If you find someone, click on their user name to get to their profile page, then email them via geocaching.com and arrange the trade between yourselves.
2. If you fail to find any such notes, you can post one yourself on the counterpart Rhode Island cache page, requesting a partner to exchange numbers with. Hopefully, someone in Rhode Island who needs a partner in Kinsale will read your note and contact you via geocaching.com. (You may have to wait a bit for this to happen.)
3. Once you have the number provided by the Rhode Island cacher, you need to do a little math. Using the 4 digit number you recevied from them as JKLM, the final cache in Kinsale is located at:
N 51 4a.bcd
W 8 3e.fgh
Where:
a = L+A
b = D
c = M-C
d = K-M
e = K-B
f = M
g = K-J-C
h = B-M
Important: Please do not post premature "found it!" logs. If you post a "found it!" log before finding the final and signing the log, your log will be deleted (after fair warning, of course). Also, please remove any partner-seeking notes you post on the Rhode Island cache page after you've found a partner. Otherwise, you'll keep getting contacted, and folks there will be frustrated by the clutter of old notes. Whenever we find outdated notes on these two cache pages, we will remove them. Finally, please don't post any numbers or coordinates on either of these cache pages. Posts that include this information will be deleted as soon as they are discovered.
Important: You may only log the cache which you physically found! You are not allowed to log the opposite coast cache just because you teamed up with someone at the other side of the ocean.
Newport, Rhode Island
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