Blogs from Cobh, County Cork, Ireland, Europe

Saturday-Thursday 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th,11th, 12thOctober 2023 Cobh, S.Ireland We were informed that someone needed to be dropped at hospital so we went northward from Corner Brook to the Straight of Belle Isle between Newfoundland and Labrador, and a rib boat came to collect them at St Anthonys. Wild place – not much there…except a few dolphins playing around the headland!! Miles from anywhere ….or so it seemed!! Anyway, after 5 days at sea, we were going a bit stir crazy!! There is only so much reading, gazing at the fog, ice carving, fashion shows, towel folding, vegetable carving, shows, jigsaws and lectures you can do!! There is a full programme of activities but a lot of them are Mind, Body, Soul exercises, quizzes , choir or learn to play the ukelele!! We arrived at Cobh ... read more

1st October After the wet weather yesterday it was lovely to see the sunshine this morning as we made the journey from Belfast to Cobn. Another unexpected port of call as we had to cancel the Isle of Man. We arrived around mid day, the shore excursion team had put on a panoramic tour to Cork, at various times and we were able to join the first tour out at 12.30. No charge for the tour. As we left the port I remembered that heygo guide Dave Kavanagh had visited Cobn so it all looked quite familiar. It was about a 30 minute drive to Cork, a busy city on a Saturday with plenty of people out and about. We passed several interesting buildings, all well explained by our guide. We were dropped off not far ... read more

Donderdag 29/8/2019 – Bezoek aan Cobh (spreek uit als 'köf), klein stadje, met natuurlijke haven ten zuiden-oosten van Cork. Gedurende de hele emigratieperiode vertrokken van hieruit 2,5 miljoen van de 6 miljoen Ieren die tussen 1848 tot 1950 het land verlieten. Ook was deze haven de laatste aanlegplaats van de Titanic in 1912 waar de laatste passagiers bij inscheepten op zijn allerlaatste reis. In 1915 werd de SS.Lusitania hier op 16km van de kust door een Duitse U-boot gekelderd waarbij 1200 passagiers het leven lieten. Een vloot van reddingsboten van hieruit gelanceerd konden nog 761 opvarenden redden. Overal in het kleine stadje wordt men herinnerd aan deze 3 dramatisch historische toestanden. Zelfs het weer is hier triestig. Dreigende grijze wolken, veel wind en 18° die aanvoelen zoals decemberweer bij ons. Opwarming van het klimaat, niets van ... read more

Today was our last full day in Ireland and we spent it at Cobh which is pretty much Cork Harbour, located 20 minutes away from Downtown Cork. Cobh of course was known as Queenstown in 1912 before 1916 independence and is most famous for the last port of call of the Titanic and the closest port to where the Lusitania was sunk by a German U boat torpedo in 1916. There is a memorial to the victims of the Lusitania in the town square and the Cunard building is still standing which is where the survivors were brought to. But tourism in this town is centred around the Titanic and in particular the 154 people who boarded the ship in Cobh of which only 44 survived. Amazingly the town of Cobh was visited by a huge ... read more

Thursday 15th June 250 miles took me from east London to Pembroke Dock in south West Wales. By the end the van was chugging a bit, I should have given her a rest on the way, but queues on the North circular gave me little time to stop. The ferry to Rosslare takes 4 hours and headwinds and strong tides give a pitch to the boat that soon sends me to sleep. I arrive at Lemybrien, where I will be staying with a friend and using his place as a writing retreat. The weather is warm and sunny and convenient high tides in the middle of the day mean we can swim at Conniger where the waves coming in over a shallow sandbar make the water as warm as the Mediterranean. Distractions like this mean I'm ... read more