You have probably heard of the Titanic. This ocean liner, deemed unsinkable, sank in 1912 in a tragedy that caused the death of over one thousand of people. But did you know this boat is linked to a seaport in Ireland called Cobh ?
This city was the Titanic's last port of call before it sailed towards its fateful crossing.
Eager to learn more about the city's history, I went off for one day with friends discovering this small city full of big stories...
Cobh is a historic seaport located in the east of Cork. It is one of the biggest natural seaport in Europe.
Before going further, I suppose some of you have pronounced the name of the city like “Cob” but in reality, the “bh” letters together are pronounced in Ireland “v”. Thus, the name of the town is pronounced “Cove” and it is written Cobh.
It is a city greatly known by tourists, especially for one of its sloping streets which owns numerous colourful houses.
However, Cobh is much more than just a beautiful photo opportunity. Before it was called Cobh, the city was known as Queenstown and was one of the main harbours for transatlantic vessels used during the Irish people's emigration in North America from 1849 until 1920.
In addition to this past, the city is also famous for being the Titanic’s last port of call.
When we arrived in Cobh this morning, we found a city at the top of a hill from which all of its streets go down towards the sea. The first building we saw was the impressive Saint-Colman cathedral.
It dominates the city with its 91 metres and has a splendid view of the harbour. It is the tallest church in Ireland with a breathtaking inside !
In the distance, we observed a big island. It is Spike Island and it is also known as "Ireland's Alcatraz". First used as a monastery, the island then became over the years a fortress and afterwards a jail.
The history of this island began 1300 years ago with a small monastic village. It was only in the middle of the 1600s that the island became a jail. It was then used to accommodate thousands of prisoners. The island even was, for a time the biggest jail in the world ! It will stayed a jail afterwards and its doors were closed only recently in 2004 ! It was at the beginning of the 1800s that the Mitchel Fortress towered over the island. This fortress is well-known for its star-shape.
The past of this island is often gloomy but still puzzling.
Good to know :
If you schedule a visit to Spike Island, the tour lasts approximately 3 to 4 hours. The boat road to go to the island from Cobh takes only few minutes and it is the same case for the journey back but the time allocated to exploring the island is 3.5 hours !
Don't panic as facilities are available on the island such as a coffee shop or toilets.
After entering the cathedral, we went by foot to the city center. We wandered through the town discovering the streets, the pier, the memorials scattered here and there as well as the atmosphere of the place.
Before going to visit the museum about the Titanic's history, we settled down on the pier in the John F.Kennedy park. This park does not have this name by chance. Indeed, it was dedicated to President John Kennedy after his visit to the county of Cork. It is located in front of the sea and Spike Island. It has statues, ornamental cannons and a bandstand, which is used for a variety of musical performances.
After the park, we went to visit the Titanic's museum. This one offers an offbeat visit. Indeed, for the visit, you embody a real Titanic passenger, with your ticket stating their name, age and class. You can discover thanks to the archives, the final destiny of your passenger during this crossing. I embodied Jeann Carr who died at the end.
Throughout the visit, you discover surprising but real facts with short movies, questions, testimonies and re-enactments of rooms from the Titanic.
You learn more about some facts through witness testimony. I discovered the testimony of one officer on the Titanic. This man was warned that he didn't have any place on lifeboats. This didn't prevent him from throwing chairs overboard in order to provide buoys and consequently save as many passengers as possible. After the sinking, he swam for 3 hours in a zero degrees water ! The most incredible thing is that he survived...
Good to know :
To visit the museum, you have to book your ticket online specifying at what time you want to begin the visit. The museum organizes tours every fifteen minutes. If you don't book online, you have little to no chance to visit the museum as groups tour are small and there is rarely space left.
Leaving the museum, we went towards the Titanic's gardens which is a place of memory linked to the tragedy. The gardens are located a bit outside of the city. In reality, it is more a park than a garden. It is also close to the sea with some flower beds and benches.
Here, it is possible to find a plaque with the names of all of the Titanic's passengers. From this garden, you have a view of the sea but you can also see the city of Cobh in the distance. I suggest you stop a while on a bench in front of the sea, you will be quickly transported to another epoch...
Coming back the city, we discovered a monument commemorating another maritime tragedy : the Lusitania's disaster.
This monument is in the city center. The memorial pays tribute to the 1200 victims onboard of the Lusitania, a boat torpedoed by a submarine in 1915 during the World War I. It was the target of a German U-20 submarine because it was suspected of carrying weapons clandestinely. Afterwards, it was found that the rumor was true : the boat secretly transported weapons. Of the 2000 passengers onboard, 1200 died.
Do you know it ?
According to you, on which side was the Ireland during the World War I ?
You may suppose it was on the side of the Great Britain but in reality, Ireland was neutral during the dispute just like Switzerland !
After the monument, we stopped at Cobh Heritage Centre. It is a building tracing the history of the sea and the emigration. The exhibition brings to life the origins, history and legacy of Cobh and its role in Irish emigration as well as tales of the Titanic and Lusitania.
There is nothing else to say, the history of Cobh is intimately linked to the sea !
After this day full of evocations of the past, we walked alongside the pier. Coming back the John F.Kennedy park, we heard some music. A small orchestra was in the bandstand and we attended an Irish music performance.
We finished this amazing day in a coffee shop with a hot chocolate as only the Irish know how to prepare. To be honest, we were rather pleased with it !
In Ireland, hot chocolate goes hand in hand with marshmallows and cream...to the delight of the taste buds !
On my next post, I will bring you along as I discover the Irish coast...
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