Whiling Away the Day from the Sidewalks of Cobh

Day 118, Grand World Voyage

Monday, May 1, 2023; Cobh (Cork), Ireland.

After walking 12,000 steps yesterday in Dublin, I thought it best to take it easy today in Cobh (pronounced Cove). It is my second visit to this beautiful town on the south coast of Ireland.

In 2019 we visited Blarney Castle and the Jameson whiskey distillery – both fine destinations. This time we visited the Rob Roy Irish Pub and the Jacob’s Ladder restaurant. Two more fine destinations.

We docked just a few blocks from the main street along the waterfront. (In three weeks when I return we will be across the bay at a commercial port that isn’t accessible to much of anything, but I’ll tell that story later.) From there, the town rises steeply, as those hearty souls who walked straight uphill will testify.

It is a charming town, with colorful houses and buildings. One section is known as the Deck of Cards – a series of adjoining houses leading straight up the hill, each seemingly more colorful than the previous.

We walked a few blocks along the waterfront, then zig-zagged up the hill a bit to the cathedral, finding many stores were closed due to May 1 being a national holiday.

Unfortunately, the top-rated restaurant in town had closed. Large “For Sale” signs filled its windows.

But just across the street was the Rob Roy Irish Pub, with some of our best ship friends sitting on the sidewalk, pondering whether it was too early to switch from Irish coffees to beer. The consensus was it’s never too early.

Eventually, my sisters and I headed back toward the ship for lunch at Jacob’s Ladder – another restaurant with seafood chowder. We were slightly disappointed that mussels weren’t on the menu this weekend, but thoroughly enjoyed the chowder and beers.

If we were more energetic, we could have toured the nearby Titanic Experience. Cobh was Titanic’s final port before its fateful trip across the Atlantic Ocean. Of the 123 people who boarded the ship in Cobh, only 44 survived.

Cobh, along with the nearby town of Kinsale, also was at the center of the recovery efforts for passengers of the Lusitania, which was struct by a German torpedo and sank in 1917. Visitors to Cobh can tour memorials to the losses in both disasters.

On the dock was another statue, this of Annie Moore and her brothers Anthony and Philip. They immigrated to the United States in 1891 on the S.S. Nevada, and she was the first person admitted to the United States through the new immigration center at Ellis Island.

As we were preparing to depart, a local brass band entertained not only us, but the large crowds on the pier.

It is a bit bittersweet – we know our journey will be ending soon. After two days at sea, we will make two stops in the Azores, and then head west across the Atlantic Ocean to Fort Lauderdale.