It’s not just the salty air that grabs tourists it’s the sense of history that pervades the Irish seaside port of Cobh (pronounced Cove). Anyone standing at the harbor side looking out across one of the world’s largest natural harbors could easily imagine the incredible excitement as the ocean liner Titanic loaded Irish émigrés on board. Queenstown in the harbor was the ill-fated liners, last port of call before crossing the North Atlantic on her tragic maiden voyage.
Tragically Titanic was not the only link with maritime disaster at Cobh. Near the seafront is the poignant and evocative memorial to the hundreds of women, men and children who perished in the sinking of the Lusitania by a German U-boat in 1915. It was this terrible act of war; many at the time called it ‘German piracy’ that led directly to the United States entering the First World War.
The Maritime History of Cohb
Cobh has been at the center of world events since its very beginnings as a major port. The nearby city of Cork has been at the crossroads of history including the mass exodus from Ireland of thousands of people to a better life in the United States during the Irish potato famine of 1844 and 1848. The passage to America started packed into steamers that left Ireland through the port of Cobh. For thousands the dream of a better life came to nought on the mean streets of New York and Chicago, but for those left behind, the famine claimed ever more lives as it cut a swath through Irish society.
Cobh is built on the largest of the harbor’s three main islands, Great Island. The other two, Fota and Little Island are linked to Great Island, whilst another pair, Haulbowline and Spike Island, sit in the center of the harbor and provide a base for the Irish Navy. Cobh is a maritime history chest that needs opening. So much history is visible but so much more is to be found with just a little digging. A summertime harbor cruise will show the wrecks, the ghosts and history of Cobh.
The Magnificent St Coleman's Cathedral
Today the multi-colored houses in blue, whites, pinks and yellows could have been transported from an Italy piazza as they line an avenue under the ever- watchful gaze of the gargoyles on the hypodermic needle like spire of the magnificent St Coleman’s Cathedral. The cathedral sits at the highest point of the town at the top of a steep hill where the houses cling, like limpets under the cathedrals protective shadows.
Once religion has been ticked off the to do list of Cobh residents, it’s to the pub for a drink. Guinness and fine Whiskey are consumed in large amounts in the friendly pubs that line the quayside of Cobh. As visitors walk past an open doorway loud and rowdy traditional Irish music spills out onto the streets with hearty laughter followed by a huge welcome. There is nothing quite like a traditional Irish public house and any visitor wanting to experience true Irish hospitality must try one or preferably a handful of Irish pubs before they go home.
