We drove into Cork City on a typical rainy afternoon.
This was taken in the early morning .. the sun is up, the tide is in, the traffic is nil.
Our hotel, the Imperial, is an example of the old, Georgian buildings that we saw in and around Cork.
On our way to Cobh. This is on the other side of the river. Our Program Director lives in this little town.
A good view of Spike Island (it's the middle island in the picture). There are centuries of history on this island. A monastery for several centuries, a debtor's prison, a military base. It is now protected by the government from modernization.
"Quaint" comes to mind.. this street follows the river on the right; the town of Cobh is embedded in the hills on the left.
There are two "industries" that are found in abundance in Ireland - churches and pubs! I'm not sure what that says about the country, but I photographed as many as I could.
Cobh has the largest seaport in Europe (?). This is where the Titanic made its last stop for passengers before its fatal voyage. The Lusitania was sunk in its harbor. And the day before we came the largest cruise ship in the world was docked here!
This is a memorial to the victims of the Lusitania.
Here is the actual building through which passengers passed before embarking on the Titanic. There are many plaques, statues and memorials to this event. In fact, this was on a Friday and on Monday we heard on the news that the last remaining survivor of the Titanic has passed away at the age of 97.
This is the rose window in St. Colman's (Catholic) Cathedral. Most of the churches we visited had beautiful stained glass windows (some centuries old) and gorgeous marble floors. All the marble comes from various regions of Ireland and is used abundantly.
For a while Cobh was called Queensland in honor of one of the queens of England. There is so much history, changing of control by various nations and faiths, it's very hard to remember it all.
This puppy is for sale! We didn't stop to find out what they wanted for it, but it's too much a "fixer-upper" for me!
I'm going to go back and find out the name of this river in Cork, but let me say that because Ireland is an island, all the rivers are tidal. So we might leave on the bus in the morning with the water level nearly to the street and come back at noon and it's six feet lower. It was a phenomenon I had a hard time getting used to. However, it did afford some very interesting photos! Just looked on Wikipedia and this is the River Lee.
One last look at the unique city of Cork as we make our way out and journey up to Cahir, Kilkenny and Waterford. This was a lovely stop.
Here is the actual building through which passengers passed before embarking on the Titanic. There are many plaques, statues and memorials to this event. In fact, this was on a Friday and on Monday we heard on the news that the last remaining survivor of the Titanic has passed away at the age of 97.
This is the rose window in St. Colman's (Catholic) Cathedral. Most of the churches we visited had beautiful stained glass windows (some centuries old) and gorgeous marble floors. All the marble comes from various regions of Ireland and is used abundantly.
For a while Cobh was called Queensland in honor of one of the queens of England. There is so much history, changing of control by various nations and faiths, it's very hard to remember it all.
This puppy is for sale! We didn't stop to find out what they wanted for it, but it's too much a "fixer-upper" for me!
I'm going to go back and find out the name of this river in Cork, but let me say that because Ireland is an island, all the rivers are tidal. So we might leave on the bus in the morning with the water level nearly to the street and come back at noon and it's six feet lower. It was a phenomenon I had a hard time getting used to. However, it did afford some very interesting photos! Just looked on Wikipedia and this is the River Lee.
One last look at the unique city of Cork as we make our way out and journey up to Cahir, Kilkenny and Waterford. This was a lovely stop.
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