Day 23 A day in Cobh

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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 cruise ship the Royal Princess so the town was buzzing with a few thousand tourists at the same time.

We visited the “Titanic Experience” which was a museum of the Titanic voyage within the old White Star booking office which is where the 154 people boarded a two tenders for the short trip out to the Titanic which was anchored outside Cobh Harbour. The best part of the museum is that the original 150 year old Pier is still reasonably intact and can be seen in the photo’s of the day - there was a photo of all 154 passengers outside of the building waiting to board the tenders On 11 April 1912.

The foreshore also hosted a food and art festival with live music in the Rotunda, and a large band and dancers performed in the Town Square with hundreds of people looking on. There are some great photo opportunities around Cobh with the harbour and house rows crawling up the steep embankments around the harbour. We also visited St Colmans Cathedral with overlooks the town and harbour from the best vantage point. After Cobh, Andrew flew his drone over the confluence of a number of waterways near sail Cork, west of Cobh. In the evening, Kevin and Olivia took us out to the local Tapas Restaurant in Watergrasshill where fine time was had by all. We then retired for the evening and packed our checked luggage which had to be less than 20 kg each for our Ryan Air flight tomorrow. It took a number of goes but we eventually got both bags weighing in at 19.85 kg each.

A big thank you to Kevin and Olivia for showing us around Cork and hosting us in their fabulous new abode. It was great meeting the family and neighbours and giving us a sense of life in Cork. But for now, a 5:00 am alarm awaits us tomorrow morning as we continue our holiday around the Baltic Sea.

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Photos

Cobh
Small boat marina in the Cobh Harbour

Cobh
Cruise ship is docked in the Cobh Harbour

Cobh
The City of Cobh

Cobh
Memorial to the sinking of the Lusitania in 1916.

Cobh
Main church which overlooks Cobh

Cobh
The old White Start Line Pier where the Titanic passengers boarded the tender on 11 April 1912 with the cruise ship in the background

Cobh
Row of housing in Cobh

Cobh
More row housing than you can poke a stick at here in Cobh

Cobh
Church which overlooks the City of Cobh

Cobh
Inside the Church

Cobh
The original Pier where 144 passengers boarded the tender boats to take them to the Titanic outside the White Star Line booking Office - Pier is 150 years old

Cobh
The White Star ticket office where the Cobh Titanic passengers walked out of onto the tender to take them out to the Titanic

Cobh
Dancing and Bands in the main square in Cobh

Cobh
Titanic Memorial Gardens in Cobh

Cobh
Titanic Memorial in Cobh

Cobh
The drone is out and about in Cobh

Watergrasshill
The drone on Kevin and Olivia’s roof

Comments

[Shauna Carroll]

What a titanic experience!
Yes, that Titanic exhibition is fascinating isn't it Tish? Sounds like Cobh is rocking in the summer. It was dead as a Dodo in mid January! Glad you met up with some of Kev's family. They're lovely people. Hope you managed to get that 5am flight! Ouch! Enjoy the rest of your trip. Final leg now. Bon voyage and safe travels! Looking forward to having you home and hearing all about it!