A Rainy Day in Cobh
Trip Start
Jul 13, 2010
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14
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Trip End
Jul 23, 2010
Cobh, County Cork, Ireland
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Well, today was Sunday and we had planned to go to church, but our late night on Saturday and a very cloudy morning made us wake up very late.:( Around 11:00 or so we headed back toward Cork and then east to Cobh. We really enjoyed that town. It had been an important port both for the navy and commercial shipping. In 1912 Titanic briefly stopped there, off-loading mail and exchanging a few passengers before sailing for North America, and its fate.
The Heritage Centre there had great exhibits on several topics. Most of Ireland's million emigrants sailed from Cobh. They were fleeing the Great Famine as well as the great lack of opportunity in Ireland at that time.
Another maritime disaster, the sinking of the Lusitania was barely down the coast from Cobh, and the victims are buried there. The town also tended the several hundred survivors.
There was another exhibit devoted to the era of pleasure cruising. Most of the well known cruise lines like Cunard and White Star called there. The Queen Mary & Queen Elizabeth played an important role in transporting troops & supplies during WW2 using Cobh as a mail stop.
A highlight of the day was viewing the local cathedral. It just happened to be the time for their weekly carillon concert. We enjoyed the beautiful bell music and also were able to watch the young woman playing the carillon via closed circuit TV. See the videos to listen.
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After a late nap we went out for dinner at an Indian restaurant in Kinsale. The young man waiting on us was from Bangladesh and was a very friendly person.
Comments
The Carillon playing is interesting. I would have expected it to be more like an organ. It looked difficult almost.