Day 60 Cobh, Ireland

Day 60 Cobh, Ireland

A friendly harbour town, houses painted bright colours, planters and hanging flower pots, quaint Irish Pubs, Irish music and singing, and our last European Port.

Our early arrival to Cobh, pronounced Cove, allowed us time to have breakfast and disembark in a leisurely pace. The shops in Cobh did not open till after 10am so there was little point in starting earlier. Some passengers went on tours to Cork, Blarney Castle, or Muckross House and Gardens.

Our walk through the town and up a steep street to St. Colman's Cathedral would normally take about 20 minutes, but we took our time to stop occasionally to look at the Emigration, Titanic and Lusitania memorials, and shop window displays which featured an Australian Theme. 10am mass in the Cathedral became our first objective for the morning. Paul's maternal grandparents emigrated from Ireland and Cobh would have been their last walk on Irish soil. They were Catholics and we are presuming they would have celebrated mass in this cathedral before they sailed for Australia.

After mass we enjoyed a pint in a quaint local bar, hosted by the owner and friendly staff. On the wall were photos of the last surviving passenger of the Titanic, who at the time of the sinking happened to be 4 months old little girl. This lady only died 2 years ago and had visited this little bar on many occasions when on holidays from America. 

The town's people gave us a friendly farewell at the pier. As we stood on the deck, the Cobh Fraternity Band played various songs, including some Australian and New Zealand.  People waved Irish, Australian and New Zealand flags along to the beat of the band.

We had a couple of Australian themed tea towels and gold kangaroo stick pins and handed them out to various locals. The children who we had given the pins to were quite appreciative and beamed in excitement, but I am not sure about the men whom I gave the tea towels to. I laughingly explained that they were not to give them to their wives but to use the tea towels themselves!