Back Across the Irish Sea - To Cobh

Obviously popular, Cobh may be one of the most photogenic towns I have ever visited; especially from the deck of the cruise ship.

IT IS funny to me how sometimes when you have never been to a place, you get a predetermined thought about what it will be like. Cobh (cove) was one of those places for me. All I knew about it was that it was a small seaport on the southeast coast of Ireland. And that it was the gateway to the city of Cork and to one of the better-known of the over 3,000 castles in Ireland: Blarney Castle.

Blarney Castle; Cork, Ireland

WHAT I now appreciate after having been there, is that Cobh itself is a destination. In fact, I would characterize it as a quintessential small Ireland town. It is a place I could easily go and stay for a couple days. It is very small and pretty easy to cover in a short period. But I think there is enough going on there to immerse oneself for more than just a day.

Cobh, Ireland

OUR STOP there was actually an overnight stop. We arrived in the early morning hours and spent the first day seeing the town. We had booked tickets for Blarney Castle for the next day. The passage into the seaport of Cobh was some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen.

Lighthouse - passage into Cobh

THE FAMOUS HMS Titanic made its final stop before tragically sinking in the Atlantic Ocean in Cobh (which, at the time, was known as Queenstown). Because of this history, there is a Titanic Museum in Cobh, right by the spot where our Cruise Ship was moored. Included in the exhibit was a short movie, and then a radio-guided tour of the museum, containing replicas of some of the rooms on board, and items that would have been used for such voyages at the time.

The Titanic Experience - Cobh, Ireland

WHILE WAITING for our entry time, we walked across the street to what is essentially the main square or plaza in town and sat outside a traditional pub on the corner to have a drink and listen to some live music being performed there (my photo is taking some license here - the Rob Roy was across the street from the pub we sat at). It was there that I was introduced to my third variety of Irish beer. Being well south of Dublin, the folks there had a slight parochial attitude. When I ordered a Guiness for myself, 3 older gentlemen sitting at a high top nearby told me Guiness was awful beer. The bartender told me to ignore them, but I couldn't help but be curious, so I asked for their suggestion: Murphy's. It is really pretty good. I know. I took their advice and tried it. 😀

The Locals clearly know which cruise ship is in town and when

IN TOWN, there is a wonderful, gothic church which is prominent in both of the photos of the town; as well as a pretty famous street with rowhouses, leading downhill to the water. Everything works its way uphill from the waterfront, and the Church is uphill. The approaching walk made some nice photo-ops. I especially liked this row of red-painted benches along the church wall.

Cobh, Ireland

I HAD seen pictures of the rowhouses and set out to find the shot. I had some directions, but they really weren't good enough to find the spot. After walking up and down the street, I found - and made - some other shots, that I actually though were unique as being my own views. But I didn't see the shot I was looking for. 

Row Houses in Cobh

I THOUGHT maybe the vantage point I sought was further up the hill, a few streets away. So, I hiked up a few blocks. I could never find an unobstructed view and certainly not the one I had seen. So, I asked a woman with her children along the street if she knew where the photo was taken from. She may have been the friendliest person I ever met in Ireland! She sent me back down to where I had always been - but with some intel. The shot required walking back into a small park just across from the row houses. It hadn't looked promising when I was there earlier, but she said to walk all the to the back and then turn around. And when I did, viola! The view was there. I like, though, that I got a few alternative views. Throughout the small town, there were a number of pubs and we felt obliged to try some of them.

Row Houses from behind - Cobh, Ireland

THE PRIMARY reason, it seems, that most people make the trip to Blarney Castle is to see and maybe "kiss" the Blarney Stone. The legend has it that if you kiss the stone, you will receive "the gift of gab." Hmnn. Did I really need more of that gift? Hardly. But at least one of us was bound and determined to kiss the stone (she did). It is kind of a feat, as the stone is down over a wall, and you must stand backward, and lean down into a chasm (there are people holding you). Not only did that look uncomfortable, but I really wasn't feeling that nasty stone that thousands of others had kissed (I had the same reaction some years earlier in the Underground Cistern in Istanbul). 

Lining up to kiss the Blarney Stone - Blarney Castle - Cork, Ireland

AS I noted earlier, there are over 3,000 castles in Ireland. Some are ruins, but many have been made into destinations to see. We have been in several of them. I think Blarney is probably one of the two most commercialized that we have visited. But the grounds are still impressive and beautiful.

Linehan Confectionery; Cork, Ireland

CORK IS a larger and more modern city than Cobh, but still had a fair amount of "old Irish" charm. We hired a cab from outside Blarney Castle to take us into Cork. Our cab driver was a friendly guy, who-when we said we didn't really know where we were going or what we were doing in Cork, made some suggestions. He dropped us off at a local confectionery. From there, we walked back down to the old city area and walked around for a while, before heading back to Cobh and our ship.

Celebrity Reflection; Cobh, Ireland