Day 21 – 9/16 – Cobh, Ireland (the port for Cork)
The small town of Cobh, serves as the port for Cork, which about 30 miles away. This is one of those ports that we can dock right in the center of town, making the logistics of getting on and off the ship quite nice.
We walked around the town for a few minutes and then, in the absence of a hop a bus, settled for the local train ride.
Given that Cobh is quite hilly, rising straight up from the seashore, the train was quite an advantage.
These houses are called “The Pack of Cards” locally because it is said that if one fell over, they would all go. They were built in the mid 1800s.
The Cobh Cathedral, built in the 1800s is still an active Catholic Church.
This is a tribute to a famous local boxer – Jack Doyle
He also has a popular local pub named in his honor.
Speaking of which, the little town is full of pubs.
In 1915, a German U Boat attacked and sunk the liner Lusitania, believing that it was carrying arms to Britain. The liner went down a few miles off the coast of Cobh, and many survivors as well as victims were brought ashore here. This is a monument for those lost on the ship.
There is a strong emphasis on the “Titanic” connection here in Cobh, as in Belfast. On its fatal crossing, Titanic stopped here before crossing the Atlantic, taking on passengers and offloading mail. Once again we passed on diving into the Titanic experience.
On the main street is a tribute to another local hero, Sonia O’Sullivan, Olympic medal winner.
In the afternoon, Sally and Tina took off on a tour to Cork. An example of the wider streets in Cork.
A famous store in Cork.
They just got a “drive by” long distance shot of Blarney Castle, in the background beyond the owner’s private residence.
The Blarney Woolen Mills at Blarney Castle.
The Heineken Brewery, with the Cathedral in the background.
They rejoined the ship about 10 minutes before we sailed.
We leave this enchanting little town, and set out across the Atlantic – 5 days to Boston.
Tina’s Take
Loved this little cute town. The train was a bonus for running around the place and after a thorough run through with pictures and one of the BEST Bailey’s and Coffees we have ever had on this trip or at home (And Mom and I are experts on tasting the Bailey’s and Coffee to ensure a proper quality control) we were ready for our next adventure in Ireland. In this vein, Mom and I continued on to Cork and into Blarney’s Castle territory to have some more Irish Coffee and do a little shopping. The Blarney Woolen Mills shopping area was huge and we scoured around for close to two hours and came away with some scores but alas most of what was there would kill people from heat exhaustion. The sweaters, the coats, the material all were so heavy and thick that they were totally unpractical for Texas. We got our goods though and scampered back to the ship for some relaxing days at Sea!!