Ireland-Scotland day 5 - Cobh
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look for Cork & Cobh on SE coast |
Cork - on the drive from Kilarney to Cobh, our next overnight stop, we parked and had a short walk in the city, but within a year or two of posting, the photos were not worth keeping, so we skip Cork here.
Cobh - we arrived in "Cove" at our B&B in late afternoon, and after checking in went for a walk into town. It seemed sleepy, & we saw no other tourists around, so we enjoyed a quiet waterside dinner.
Cobh is an atmospheric port town, with a lot of history. The harbor is not deep, so smaller ships ferry passengers & baggage out to the mother ship or back.
We stayed here only one night. We're in County Cork now so red & white Hurling flags were prominent.
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the driver blew the horn & waved |
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in case you run into the bridge |
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looks like a protected harbor |
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a quiet evening in Cobh |
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a port with a lot of history | ||
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White Star Lines |
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near the restaurant |
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red & white for Cork hurling team |
We slept in a bit at the B&B and had a luxurious 9:30 am breakfast in a Victorian home once belonging to a British Naval Admiral, who built this house & later his son's house, next door.
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the B&B |
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breakfast room |
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our host |
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the son's house |
On the walk into town, for a guided tour, we passed the Titanic museums.
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HMS Titanic |
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we missed the Centennial by a year |
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from a Father Brown photo |
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looks official |
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back in town |
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only a few more days untill the final hurling match | |
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center city |
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holding a currach (see note) |
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flowers on a grey day |
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note - the Currach is the a traditional Irish row boat, considered to be ocean-going. There's an old Irish legend about St. Brendan sailing and rowing west in a currach with 17 other monks, possibly all the way to Newfoundland & back, in the 600s. It took seven years & along the way they encountered talking birds and sea monsters.
We met guide Adeen at 11 am, for a 45-minute walking tour. We learned that this town (when known as Queenstown) had an illustrious history as a British Naval port. Queen Victoria allowed the name to be changed back to the Irish name of Cobh in the 1840s.
Cobh's importance is also related to the Irish Potato Famine, because (starting in the 1840s) as the Irish left in droves, they emigrated to the US or Canada either from Cobh, or Liverpool (possibly also from Bristol, England).
But in modern times what brings tourist groups here is the Titanic history & and the museums.
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local history walking tour |
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Adeen was a good guide |
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After leaving Cobh (about 2 pm) we had a rainy 90 minute drive to Tramore, another small coastal town, where the story of tragic endings for sea-faring passengers continues.
go to day 6 & 7 - Tramore & Waterford
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