2nd
Stop: Ireland: Cobh, Charles Fort and Kinsale
Cobh from the ship |
The Irish port, Cobh, has had numerous names. Looking at the name I would have pronounced
it “cob-ha” but it is actually pronounced “cove”. When the English held it they called it Cork. After Queen Victoria visited the port in 1922
they changed the name again to “Queenstown”.
After the Irish Revolt in 1922-1923, they kicked the English out and
changed the name back to the original Gaelic “Cobh”.
Cobh waterfront |
When we arrived the weather was cloudy, overcast, windy and 45
degrees. We were thankful it was not
raining, just a little chilly. The Emerald Princess docked at 9:00 am. We signed up for an afternoon tour to Charles
Fort and the seaside village of Kinsale.
Meanwhile, after breakfast we decided to disembark and walk around. Our first stop was the TITANIC museum, a
unique experience. Visitors assume the identity of one of the passengers who
boarded at Cobh and a guides and videos take you through the ship where you visit
a 3rd class cabin and get a look at what the 1st class
cabin looked like. The video then reenacts
the TITANIC striking the iceberg, the boarding of the lifeboats, and, by the
way, there were not enough for all the passengers. Then we watched a vivid reenactment of the huge
ship sinking.
There were 2200 passengers including several hundred Irish immigrants who
boarded in Cobh on 3rd class tickets. There were only 700 survivors. The Irish do not forget those who perished.
As we walked out we looked at the name on our tickets. MA had the ticket of Agnes McCoy. She survived.
I had the name of Michael Linehan.
He did not.
St Colman Cathedral |
After the museum we walked up the steep hill to the Cathedral of St.
Colman, a huge gothic church that dominates the village skyline. It took 47
years to build, from 1868-1915. After we made it to the top an old Irish
gentleman with a cane asked me to help him get down the steps because he had vertigo. After I got him down and I got back up we
went inside the cathedral. You can see
from the photos it is beautiful. We were
treated to a bunch of clean-cut high school kids from a choir who broke out in
a beautiful hymn. From the church we
made our way back to the ship and, you guessed it, lunch!
After lunch we met our tour on the dock. There were about 40 of us. The first stop was Charles Fort, a British
fort built in the 1800’s to protect the harbor from the Spanish and other
countries England did battle with. The
tour took the group through the dilapidated structure; however, MA and I decided
to visit the coffee shop instead. It was
very cold and windy and a cappuccino was the perfect alternative to the cold
and windy 40 degree temperature!
Irish countryside |
Our next stop was the seaside village of Kinsale. We had about 45 minutes to walk around. I took a few photos. The funniest thing we saw was three young
Rugby players walking along, singing and laughing, and then one of them spotted
a garden fountain and ran to it, diving into the cold water! I think he had enough beer in him that he
didn’t feel the collision with the concrete or water that soaked his jersey and
shorts.
Ireland is one of the most beautiful places we have seen. The countryside is forty shades of
green. There are cows and sheep
everywhere. The people are so friendly. They see a tourist bus and start waving. The Irish had a warm place in their hearts
for Americans and the feeling is mutual.
Kinsale |
Wayne,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the update, commentary, and photos. One thing that's for certain - you and MA visit a lot of colorful places. Enjoy the chilly weather while you can - it's been around 90 here (already). Keep the updates coming - I look forward to them.
HAVE A GOD BLESSED DAY - dave b.