Cork City to Cobh
During my recent five day visit to charming Cork City, I popped over to the historic harbor town of Cobh. Normally, it’s a quick 20 minute train ride from Cork City to Cobh, but on this day there was rail construction and buses were shuttling travelers from the Kent train station till the late afternoon. While at first this seemed a disappointment, it actually turned out to be a beautiful drive through the East Cork countryside on a very comfortable bus. The driver left us at the Cobh train station which features a pleasant and convenient laid back tourist venue that features a Queenstown historical exhibit, tourist store, and restaurant, situated on the expansive Cobh harbor.
Seeking Ancestry
I wasn’t drawn to Cobh by its notoriety as the Titanic’s last port of call – as a matter of fact the prospect of finding myself in a Disneyesque Titanic-themed hell was a little off-putting. So, I was pleasantly surprised on a rainy October day to find the town quiet and charming – preserved in a state of suspended Victoriana, but also a real working town. To be sure, the town plays to its Titanic past with exhibits and museums, but given the off-season the town felt low key. What drew me to Cobh was that many Irish emigrated from Cobh’s harbor to America, and my great, great, great grandparents who were from County Cork may have been some of them. While I have traced my grandparents to being in Boston as early as 1855, I haven’t yet identified the ship that brought them to Boston. But I couldn’t miss this opportunity to see what may have been a part of their experience as they escaped the aftermath of the Great Potato Famine.
Cobh Town Center on the Harbor
The day was stark and grey and I set off on foot toward the center town, which was only about a 10-minute walk along the Port of Cobh. I arrived at a small, charming Victorian town that appeared dwarfed by a massive cathedral on the hill. The town streets were quiet and nearly devoid of tourists. A lovely park fronts the bay and looks like a throwback to small town Victorian times with its gazebo bandstand and sprinkling of park benches. I could imagine that in summertime this must be a lovely outdoor spot. I quickly skirted past the Titanic experience with the goal of randomly exploring the streets and architecture.
St. Colman’s Cathedral
I was pulled magnetically upward by that looming cathedral and as I walked up the slightly sloping hill, the gothic edifice became more immense. I had known nothing of this church and learned only as I was being guided through the streets by the tourist signs that it’s called St. Colman’s. When I arrived at the top of the hill with its expansive views over the vast harbor, the church was desolate outside.
Entering the cathedral, I found one of the most breathtakingly beautiful churches I have ever seen. I’ve spent a lot of time in exploring beautiful churches all over Italy, and St. Colman’s rivals those. While I’m not religious, I appreciate churches because they embody the culture, architecture, politics, and history of a given time. St. Colman’s reverently looks to the past with its elaborate neo-Gothic sensibility. Ornately carved walls rise into dramatic archways. Marble columns are topped with intricately leafy Corinthian capitals. Brightly colored stained glass shimmer casting light over stunning Celtic-patterned mosaic floors. St. Colman’s was an unexpected architectural discovery.
Exploring the Backstreets of Cobh
As I left the church I decided to walk further up the hill and check out a little main street in search of a more local experience. This part of town is lined with shops and restaurants that were abuzz with the workaday life of supply deliveries and swarms of uniformed school kids seeking fast-food sustenance during their lunch break. Only a couple of blocks long, there was not too much to see, but was worth the walk to see more of the city than simply the touristed main street along the bay.
I headed back down the hill in search of lunch wandering the backstreets and strolling along the sea wall. Though the sky had been threatening to burst open since I’d arrived, so far I had avoided rain showers.
Lunch at Jacob’s Ladder
Finding no café on the main drag that enticed me, I decided to head back toward the train station where I knew there were a couple of recommended restaurants. The Quays was closed due to fewer opening days during off-season, but Jacob’s Ladder in the next door Water’s Edge Hotel looked promising. The hotel was immediately pleasant upon entrance with a cozy lounge that led into the restaurant that has expansive views of the bay. The staff were very friendly and welcoming and showed me into the cozy, modern dining room. I had a benign Greek salad, and could not, as usual, resist the deep friend mushrooms. I had found similar breaded mushrooms throughout Ireland… enough to begin thinking of them has an Irish specialty: crunchy breading on the outside, juicy mushroom on the inside, dipped in a tangy mayo. While I wasn’t blown away by the food, someday I thought, someday I would love to sit outside on their terrace with a cold glass of local Irish Pale Ale and a plate of those fried mushrooms, gazing out over that enormous bay.
Back to Cork City
Back on the bus to Cork City after a quick three hours in Cobh, I was glad I had come to this small town that has so much historical significance for Irish people around the world. But mostly, I think about beautiful St. Colman’s Cathedral – it was such a stunningly, beautiful surprise and, for me, it alone would have been worth the trip to Cobh.
