We had a sea day between Rotterdam and Ireland. The seas became very rough as we exited the The North Sea and entered the Irish Sea between Great Britain and Ireland.
Bill and I really looked forward to visiting Ireland for the first time. Ireland is made up of the Republic of Ireland which takes up 83% of the island, and the Republic of Northern Ireland. The Republic of Ireland is an independent country and uses the euro for its currency. The Republic of Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom and uses the English pound currency. Our first two stops are in the Republic of Ireland and our last stop will be in Northern Ireland.
Our first stop was at the port of Cobh (pronounced Cove) , Ireland. Cobh is famous for being the final port of call for the Titanic before it later hit an iceberg and sank. Cobh was also the departure point for over 2.5 million immigrants between 1848 and 1950. Bill and I feel certain we had ancestors among those immigrants.
Before leaving the ship, all 2,000 + passengers and crew had to have a face to face meeting with immigration officials to have our passports inspected and stamped. As expected that took quite a bit of time. Once that was done we were free to leave the ship. The town officials were a bit persnickety here. Evidently they were not happy that the town could hear the ship’s public address system and they complained. The ship was having to use the public address system more than usual because they were calling groups of passengers to meet with the immigration officials. They couldn’t have over 2,000 people at one time since they only sent four officials. The sound went on for several hours and since the pier was so close to the town, townspeople complained. The captain had to promise not to make any more announcements the rest of the day. So instead of his usual departure announcement, he had to wait until we were far enough away from the pier so as not to be heard.
The train station was conveniently located steps from the pier. Bill and I took the train from Cobh into Cork, pop 224,000. It is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland.
Our first destination was Saint Fin Barre’s Cathedral. It is a Gothic Revival architecture built in the 19th century. An Anglican church, it was built on the site where Fin Barre established a 7th century monastery. It has over 1,100 carvings, unique stained glass windows, marbled walls, frescoes, wood carvings, brass, fittings, floor mosaics and cathedral organ.
Next we walked to the Elizabeth Fort, one of the oldest parts of Cork. It was built around 1626 in the shape of a star. Through the years, as well as once being a fort, it also served as a female convict prison, a fever hospital, constabulary barracks and home of the Irish police. There were some nice views of Cork from the top.
We took a quick walk through the English Market, a covered food market in operation since 1788 and one of the oldest municipal markets in the world. Let’s just say, everything you can imagine in a food market is available here.
Unfortunately we ran out of time and we had to catch the train back to the ship.
At sail away we saw some of the multi colored houses that make up Cobh.
Next up: Dublin, Ireland