A Sunny Day in Cobh

Cobh is located on Ireland's south coast just outside of Cork. Cobh is pronounced "Cove". When Queen Victoria came to Ireland in 1849 they changed the name to "Queenstown", but in 1922 to celebrate their new independence from British royalty they changed it back to Cobh. 

If your ancestry is Irish, there's a good chance that this was where they left from. Of the 6 million Irish who have emigrated, nearly half left from Cobh. This is also where the Titanic made its final stop before heading out on its fateful voyage in 1912.

This is a picture I got off the internet of Cobh...it was taken from
the water looking towards the town

This used to be the White Star Line building where the Titanic's final passengers boarded, and one got off the boat. They have turned this into a little Titanic museum. 

White Star Line Building

We ate lunch at Jacob's Ladder in the Waters Edge Hotel. It was a cute place right on the water. We could have eaten outside but it was a little chilly. Afterwards we walked over to the old Victorian train station so we could do The Queenstown Story museum. Outside the museum was a statue of Annie Moore. She emigrated from Cobh and was the first person to be processed through Ellis Island when it opened on January 1, 1892. They have a statue very similar to this on Ellis Island. 

Annie Moore and her 2 children

The old Victorian train station

This was a small museum but it had a lot of great topics - the famine, Irish emigration, Australia-bound prison ships, the sinking of the Lusitania, and the Titanic. We definitely learned a lot about the sinking of the Lusitania by the German U-boat. I never realized how close to Ireland they were when it sunk and how the survivors and the dead were brought to Cobh. Many of the passengers that died are buried in a Cemetery just north of Cohb. The town came together and opened up its doors to help the rescued. 

inside a replica famine ship

the main street in Cobh 

walking up Westview Street, these houses are nicknamed "deck of cards"

St. Colman's Cathedral

We walked around St. Colman's Cathedral for a little while. It was a  pretty church but honestly nothing really that special. Ha! I know...we are spoiled with all our pretty churches in Europe. 

The Nave had pretty marble pillars

The Lady Chapel

Blessed Thaddeus Chapel - his relics are under the altar

looking towards the back of the church

the High Altar

Rose Window and Organ

the backs of the "deck of cards"

the view from the cathedral

Mom C lovin Ireland!

now we are back to the main street

this was a park/playground on the water. the children had a quick run
around before we got back into the car

We drove back to Dublin which was about 2 1/2 hours. Luckily from Cork there is a "big" highway to Dublin, so we did not have any country windy roads - just a few tolls. T of course was happy about that! When we got into Dublin I dropped Mom C and MC off at the hotel near O'Connell Street. They would be staying in town until that Friday when we were leaving for our next weekend trip. I then dropped K and T off at the house so they could go to bed since it was getting late and they had school the next day. Then L and I filled up the car with gas, drove back to the airport to drop off the rental car, took the shuttle back to the airport terminal, and then took a taxi back to the house. That was a little exhausting...and then we had this crazy taxi driver. I was honestly a little scared for my life. 

I checked on Mom C and MC to make sure they got settled in their hotel room. I received these two pictures so they were both doing ok! 


We all had a great long weekend. There were many moments when I was ready to strangle the children (but thats to be expected). Ha! We all slept well that night....and I was not looking forward to the school routine the next day. Is it almost summer?