Day 6: Monday June 24, 2024

Day 6 started off a early with another full Irish breakfast in the Clayton Hotel Silver Springs so we could have a 8:20 am bus departure for Cobh. We had roughly a 30 minute foggy drive from Cork to the southeast coast where Cobh is located. The fog was thick as we were basically following the River Lee to the East bay where Cobh is located. 

Cobh’s name changed from Queenstown in the 1920’s during Irelands war of independence from England. It was a major port for the Royal Navy, it was the launching site for 2.5 million of the 6 million Irish people who emigrated to North America between 1848 and 1950, and it is also the final port call to Titanic before she set sail across the Atlantic. 

We arrived at Cobh out of the fog from the north end of town and it was St. Colman’s Cathedral that was the first striking landmark with a view down this very steep hill to the bay. The bus made a westerly turn parallel to the bay as began to descend to the bay where we were able to get a great view down the street with “Deck of Cards” houses. The streets had a few tight turns as the bus made it to the bay. Even with the fog we arrived at the city center at the bay a bit early for our 9:15 am tour of the Titanic Experience. The bus dropped us off at The Promenade of John F. Kennedy Park where we would wait for our tour and meet up before our departure. 

Our group was a too large go on one tour of the Titanic Experience so we broke into two groups. The tour was in the building where passengers departed for the Titanic. Unlike the movie passengers did not walk aboard the Titanic from port, but bored boats that shuttled them to Titanic, it was too large to dock. We were all given White Star Line passenger tickets with actual passengers names on them and at the end of the tour we would find out if they survived and what happened to them. Inside the building they had rooms that replicated the cabins of the different class size cabins that were offered to passengers. Combination of the stories of passengers, the cabins, historical artifacts, etc. on this guided tour made it a very entertaining and enlightening experience. 

After the Titanic Experience we gathered outside the building where we began our guided walking tour of the city with Joe. The tour started out at the RMS Lusitania Memorial which was in the city center and across from the Titanic Experience. From the memorial we walked up the steep hill on West View Blvd. to West View Park along the road is also the “Deck of Cards” Houses and finished the tour at the top of hill with St. Colman’s Cathedral. We were are on our own from the Cathedral to explore the city and get lunch before we departed back to Cork. Many of us found our way to SuperMacs for lunch. 

After lunch we departed back to Cork. The 45 minute drive was needed rest after climbing the streets of Cobh and full bellies. The bus dropped us off in the city center of Cork at the Merchants Quay Shopping Centre along the River Lee. We had the next 90 minutes to explore and shop Cork. 

We met up as a group again at 4pm to make the walk for dinner at Luigi Malones Cork with stops along the way. Our first stop was to the English Market. The English Market is a cover market that has been selling and trading locally grown and prepared organic food since 1788. A very unique shopping experience. Our second stop was at the Crawford Art Gallery. The art gallery had made interactive displays that everyone was able to do while we waited for our reservation time slot at the restaurant. At Luigi Malones we had the choice of Chicken Tequila Fettuccine, Lasagne, Cashew & Tofu Stir Fry, Chicken Caesar Salad, BBQ Baby Back Ribs, Hamburger or Pizza. The food was again was amazing and we all debated who selected the best dessert from the three options of Fresh Strawberry Pavlova, Caramelized Apple Crumble, or Toblerone Cheesecake.

After dinner we walked across the street to Emmett Place Opera House where our walking Ghost Tour of Cork begun. We were lead on a tour of horrible histories, ghost stories and hysterical shenanigans. To say this tour was lively would be a understatement. We had one tour guide that told us the stories and a young actor who played several characters or ghosts. The actor would hide, pop up along the tour, and then run off with a costume change before the next hiding. The ghost tour was a highlight not for the day but for the trip. We ended the tour and headed back to the hotel about 8:15 pm.