COBH (Queenstown) IRELAND

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After another 3 sea days, we docked in COBH IRELAND, formally known as Queenstown. For those of you that follow our Blog, know that Kevin is a HUGE Titaniac, so visiting here was on his bucket list. This was the last port of call of the RMS Titanic before she sailed west to her historical destiny. About 300 people boarded here on their way to a new and prosperous life in the U.S.

When we tied up to the pier and looked out our balcony, we were moored directly in front of the TITANIC WALL, a graphic completed in 2012 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of her sinking. Kevin already felt the chill and significance of this!! We disembarked and began our trek through town, passing the Cobh Heritage Center (which we later returned to and toured), as well as the original offices of the White Star Line. Cobh is filled with many references to both the Titanic, and the Lusitania, which was sunk only a few years after the Titanic, just off the coast. The Survivors, debris, and even bodies, ended up in the harbor. This event brought the United States into World War One, as many of the passengers on the Lusitania were American. The Cobh Museum has a spectacular collection of Lusitania material, including jewelry and personal items removed from victims in an attempt to identify them, as well as many nautical records about the sinking and recovery.

Further up the hill (there's not a lot of flat ground in Ireland), we visited the central church, a spectacular example of Victorian Era (and earlier) church construction across England & Ireland. From this vantage point we get a great view of the harbor. Back down through town we stopped again at the Cobh Heritage Center which houses probably the best collection of Titanic photos and information aside from the Titanic Experience in Belfast. It also profiles this port's role in commercial passenger traffic from the glory days of ocean liner travel. In the gift shop we spotted something for our grandson Finnegan!

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