Port 100 Cobh, Ireland

by Ed · Published July 10, 2022 · Updated July 28, 2022

Dia duit! La maith agat! (Hello! Good morning!)

Rain! Rain! Rain!

Waterford was to be a tender port, but due to heavy winds the ship announced at 10:30 PM last night our port will be at Cobh where we can dock. Whirled! Our Kilkenny Castle tour is cancelled. Whirled!

Rain falls as we enter Cork Harbor on our way to Cobh, Ireland, on 24 Jun, 2022.

Pronunciation lesson time! Cobh is not “Cob” like corn cob. Cobh is a long “o” and the “bh” become a “v” sound. So pronounce Cobh as “Cove”.

While at breakfast the tugs come to help us! (Dirty Grand Dining Room windows don’t help, huh?)

As we approach the dock the town of Cobh stretches out behind us! This is incredibly beautiful, even with a gray sky!

Then the tug swings us around so we lose this view from our veranda. Grumble…

The two tours set up for Cobh are largely panoramic tours. Bus tours in the rain don’t excite us, so today is a walking day! A little research on Cobh tells me this will be a great day of touring! I’ll just say Lusitania and Titanic! More details coming!

Just off the ship and outside the cruise terminal is this famous statue of Annie Moore with her two brothers about to board a ship to emigrate to the United States! No, they aren’t on either the Lusitania or Titanic! They boarded the SS Nevada. This is 1891.

Annie has the honor of being the very first person checked in through the new immigration center at Ellis Island!

Walking in to Cobh I see this set of stairs leading up to a church. According to the sign on the retainer wall the church is actually the Cobh Museum! But we keep heading along the waterfront.

This lovely park is very close. I love the multi-national flags flying along the waterfront! A group of people are taking refuge from the rain in the gazebo!

OK, did you know this? The park above is the John F. Kennedy Park!

Coming around a curve the buildings open up to reveal that amazing cathedral sitting above the town! That is St Colman’s Cathedral!

Cunard Cruise Lines had a ticket office here! The Lusitania was Cunard’s flagship when it was torpedoed by a German U-boat in World War I just outside of Cork Harbor. This ticket office became a makeshift morgue. Now it is a tourist site, but we didn’t check it out.

This was the Old Town Hall for Cobh. Now it is a restaurant. I’m not convinced that clocktower will be standing very long – it has some severe cracking up the side facing us. It appears one good storm could topple it!

Cobh was in a difficult spot in the early 1900s! England was reigning over Ireland, but Ireland wanted its independence. However, most of the men of Cobh were employed in the British Royal Navy. So the women were marching for independence! (Fast forward a few years and you know the result – Ireland was split and the north stayed with England, while the south became independent!)

We are told that the St Colman’s Cathedral is a must-see because there is a special event going on inside! So we head that direction.

On the way we see this sign! I really wish the US would impose fines like this!

As we approach the cathedral we notice the line of gated windows in the wall along the street. Would you believe each of these hold the Catholic Stations of the Cross? All fourteen stations are here! People can walk the stations without ever having to enter the cathedral!

But we continue up to the Cathedral, the bells start ringing, and the rain intensifies!

The front of the St Colman’s Cathedral is stunning! Sorry, I couldn’t get all of the doorways in this shot – the parking lot isn’t very deep so I couldn’t back up far enough to get it all!

The detail over the main door is remarkable and remarkably intact!

Inside I’ll start with the altar. My typical nave shot is not typical as you’ll see in a moment! The altar looks like the exterior detail came inside! Wow!

Now I turn around and look toward the front door. This is why the nave shot isn’t typical!

This is an art project called Gaia, a representation of the Earth as seen by the Apollo 12 astronauts! The globe is seven meters in diameter, suspended from the ceiling and illuminated from within and accented withthe blue lights around the cathedral! It’s beautiful and mesmerizing!

To see more about the Gaia art project, check out https://my-earth.org

Behind Gaia, and over the main door, are the organ pipes beautifully bathed in blue light!

Station VII is also bathed in the blue light, so I want to share this photo!

I take a walk around the cathedral, and the detail on the backside of the altar is wonderful!

Our visit to St Colman’s Cathedral is complete, so we head downhill back into town. The rain has finally let up!

I already mentioned the Lusitania was sunk just off the coast by the German U-boats! This is a memorial to those lost on the Lusitania! I love the colorful backdrop for this scene!

Close up, this memorial is powerfully moving!

We stopped for a drink in Kelly’s Bar. This picture is on their wall. When we inquired, we learn it is a mass grave for people lost on the Lusitania! Pretty grim.

I am also surprised to learn this was the last port-of-call of the Titanic before her ill-fated voyage.

All over town there are monuments recognizing the Titanic and the people lost! 123 people from Cobh boarded that ship here. Only 44 survived.

Titanic Trail signs are placed to recognize events significant to the Titanic. In this case St Colman’s Cathedral was still under construction, so photos of Cobh from the ship did not include the full spire. Now the spire is complete and has a fabulous 49 bell carillon! These are the bells we heard in the rain as we walked up the hill to the cathedral!

Little signs help remember the event.

This building was the White Star Line’s ticket office, and the location the 123 people checked in to their cruise! It is now a museum and presents “The Titanic Experience”! We went inside!

This is the ticket I was handed. If you have participated in a Titanic Experience at any museum you will have seen one of these. This venue only passes out tickets representing the 123 people who left here. Today I am Patrick Connors! Already, my life expectancy is short. Most men died while most women survived! I’m a third-class passenger – call me steerage!

This is the pier I used to board the boat that ferried me to the Titanic. It’s not in great shape, but is still standing 110 years later!

This is an example of my third-class bunk. Pretty tight, and I don’t know who else is in my room. We are told these beds are better than White Star’s first-class beds on their other ships! I guess that’s supposed to make us feel better.

We get a peek at the first-class room. A lot nicer than steerage, I tell you!

Here is my menu for the day’s meals. Breakfast, lunch, and tea seem pretty good. Supper is pretty lousy!

Oh, look! We find a menu for first class. This is just lunch! There’s more food on here than our full day’s menu!

The final room is shaped like one of our lifeboats – at least that’s what they tell me. I never got to see one.

The movie shown in here looked like our boat was being lowered into the water and rowed away from the ship while voices of people who survived explained their thoughts and memories about the event. Pretty sobering!

From here we entered a display area. On a computer I learned that I did not survive the sinking. (Joy’s lady did survive!)

Titanic Experience complete! We head back to the ship. The library has a drive through! Literally!

Finally, Sonia O’Sullivan is a celebrated athlete from Cobh! This local lady made this city proud! She has European Championship gold medals, World gold medals, and Olympic gold medals. She set four world records, and the last was finally beat in 2017!