Ireland Monday October 11

If you are just now joining us, please feel free to go back and start at the beginning of my Ireland posts. I will warn you that the posts are day by day of our trip and they are wordy and have lots of pictures but I'm enjoying chronicling the trip.

We woke up on Monday, October 11 and made our way toward the restaurant for breakfast with the group. We were surprised by this incredible sunrise over the harbor at the Trident Hotel.

Mark loved the breakfast at the Trident because he ordered Eggs Benedict both days! 

After breakfast, we drove to Cobh (pronounced Cove). We had a walking tour with a different tour guide who knew all sorts of details. John Wesley visited this town and said it was basically a “den of iniquity” – I can’t remember his exact words. Rather than share all of the info, I found another blog with lots of info about the Methodist Church in Cobh.

The church (was a pub and just
sold again) is the last building
with the columns in front

The small town was beautiful and right on the water. 

After the tour, we had a couple of hours of free time and we walked up and down the streets and then ate lunch at Cuppacity – paninis. 

Cuppacity is building with cute
orange awning

We were waiting to go to lunch
Lisa, Gail, Jim

Guess who sought out the fishing
family? You are correct - Mark!
He saw them fishing and headed
straight toward them. I don't
think they were catching
much

After lunch, we went to the Titanic Experience. We were each given a name card – I was able to get  Nora Murphy. I was a third class passenger, 31 years old, and I survived. Mark was Maurice O'Connor who was 13 years old. He did not survive. Did you know that this town was the last port of call before the sinking of the Titanic? At that time, the town's name was Queenstown. Some passengers disembarked in Queenstown (Cobh) and some new passengers boarded the ship. The museum/experience is located in the same location where the White Star Line is located now.

Here are a few photos:

She was welcoming us onboard.
You can tell we are still living
in times of Covid. She was behind
a plastic shield plus had on a clear
facemask.

Mark ringing the bell

the space behind her is the 2nd 
class sleeping arrangements.
They had running water and
electricity. 
Many homes in Ireland didn't
have running water at that time.
They even had running water
and electricity in 3rd class
accomodations.

The original White Star office with lots
of passengers

This is a reproduction of first class accomodations.
It wasbigger than my photo shows.

My history (Nora Murphy's) was quite
interesting.

It was shocking to see the difference between first class and third class. 

The food selections and the bedding were also very different.

We also learned that the captain didn't listen to the warnings about the icebergs (I think I remember that from the movie!). The other concerning thing is that the lifeboats weren't filled to capacity because the first class passengers refused to allow the 2nd and 3rd class passengers to get in the lifeboats with them. Many more people could have been saved. 

After our Titanic experience, we boarded the bus and headed to Charles Fort, one of the finest examples of a 17th Century Star Fort. There were all sorts of interesting stories and legends. Supposedly it is even haunted. A bride and groom were spending their wedding night at the Fort and went out for a walk. The young man was shot. You can read about the legend of the White Lady of Kinsale here. It is a very interesting story. Once again, we experienced glorious weather and beautiful views along with lots of historical significance.

see the star shape?

This house was built for the commander
but it stood taller than the fort walls. This
would present a problem when
others were shooting at them!
It was never used for its
original purpose but was used for storage.

We were told a story about a "powder monkey" -- a young boy who carried the gunpowder to each of the cannons. Supposedly he lived his whole life there inside the fort and finally moved away when he was in his 50's and that first night away was literally the first night he ever spent away from the fort!!

The fort was literally across the harbor from our hotel. When we had walked all around and heard all of the stories, we headed back to the Trident Hotel. Mark asked our tour guide (Des) if our bus driver (Derrick) could stop at the beginning of the town portion of Kinsale and let some of us out so that we could meander down the streets and look in the shops on our way back to the hotel. They graciously agreed and 6 or 7 of us got off the bus. I don't think I took a single photo of the little town and there were some cute and colorful streets but I found one cute one on Mark's phone.

Mylie Murphy Fish Tackle & Cycle Hire

When we made it back to the harbor, we walked to the edge of the water for our new friend Gail to have a moment to remember her husband who had died just two years before. He had always wanted to travel to Ireland and she was able to fulfill his wish.

Another tour group had arrived at our hotel and a large local family was in the restaurant so we didn't have a private dining experience on this night! I think we ordered Hake Fish for dinner. Check back soon for our last two days in Ireland.