Tag Archives: Cobh

14 August 2019:
Cork, Ireland: Signs of the Times

By Corey Sandler

Our first port of call in Ireland is at Cork, close to the bottom of the island.

In actual fact, as they would put it, we docked in the industrial port of Ringaskiddy, across the wide harbor from Cobh.

We journeyed overland about 10 miles to Cork, the big city hereabouts. It was once a grand place, and it holds onto something missing almost everywhere else: a real downtown with locally owned shops.

I spent the morning documenting street signs, shop signs, and the urban landscape. Here is some of what I saw in Cork today:

Reflections of Cork, along the River Lee
A monument to Irish heroes, including nationalist Theobald Wolfe Tone
Saints Peter and Paul Church up a side alley
…and reflected in a store window across the street
Signs of the time
The former Singer Sewing Machine store in Cork, now adorned with a mural reminiscent of the decorations on old machines

Cobh: A Place of Beginnings and Endings

Across its history, Cobh has had an outsized importance as the place of arrival for invaders from Nordic kingdoms, early Britain, and from England, and as the last call in Europe before the long, long voyage to Canada, the United States, and Australia.

One of the closest European ports to Canada and America, Cobh—or Queenstown as it was known then—was the place from which millions of Irish departed to seek a new start in the new world, the land of milk and honey, the place where the streets were paved with gold.

The population of Ireland was estimated at 8.2 million in 1841; half a century later, in 1891, the population was said to be 4.7 million.

As many as 4.5 million Irish arrived in America between 1820 and 1930 from Queenstown, as well as a few other Irish ports, and British ports like Liverpool. Today, more than 10 percent of Americans trace their roots to Ireland.

There was another wave of generally unwilling emigrants who passed through Cobh and other Irish ports. During the late 18th and 19th centuries, large numbers of convicts were transported to Australian penal colonies by the British government, many through Spike Island in the harbor of Cobh.

One reason for the penal colony in Australia was to alleviate pressure on overburdened prisons at home. Across about 80 years more than 165,000 convicts were transported to the Australian mainland and Van Diemen’s island, now known as Tasmania.

The transport began about 1778, partly because it was no longer feasible to send convicts to the upstart British colonies in North America. About 60,000 convicts had already been sent to the American colonies in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Most of the transported prisoners were convicted of relatively minor crimes: despite colorful depictions to the contrary, in general murderers and prostitutes were not shipped to the colonies.

Queenstown was also the last piece of land touched by passengers on the doomed ship Titanic in 1912. And Queenstown was just out of reach of the Lusitania, which came the other direction from New York before it was torpedoed and sunk off the Old Head of Kinsale in 1915.

Today it is a pretty port, a welcoming place, and partly populated–for those who know its history–by ghosts. Memento mori: A reminder of mortality.

All photos and text Copyright 2019 by Corey Sandler, all rights reserved. See more photos on my website at http://www.coreysandler.com

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE ANY PHOTO OR AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

Now available, the revised Second Edition of “Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession” by Corey Sandler, for the Amazon Kindle. You can read the book on a Kindle device, or in a Kindle App on your computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

Here’s where to order an electronic copy for immediate delivery:

Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession: The Tragic Legacy of the New World’s Least Understood Explorer (Kindle Edition)

13 September 2018:
Cobh, Ireland:
The Old World Left Behind

By Corey Sandler

We arrived with the rising sun this morning in Cobh, Ireland and watched as the city revealed itself:

At the end of the day, we will sail out of the harbor and begin our four-and-a-half-day transatlantic crossing. First port of call in the New World is due to be St. John’s, Newfoundland in Canada on 18 September.

BEGINNINGS AND ENDINGS

Cobh is a place of epic beginnings and endings.

It is one of the closest ports of Europe to Canada and North America.

Cobh—or Queenstown as it was known then—was the place from which millions of Irish departed their homeland to seek a new start in the new world, the land of milk and honey, the place where the streets were paved with gold: America and Canada.

The population of Ireland was estimated at 8.2 million in 1841; half a century later, in 1891, the population was said to be 4.7 million.

As many as 4.5 million Irish arrived in America between 1820 and 1930, from Queenstown, other Irish ports, and British ports like Liverpool.

Today, in the United States, more than 10 percent of Americans trace their roots to Ireland.

Queenstown was the last piece of land touched by passengers on the doomed ship Titanic in 1912.

And Queenstown was just out of reach of the Lusitania, which came the other direction from New York before it was torpedoed and sunk off the Old Head of Kinsale in 1915.

A memorial to the victims of the sinking of the Lusitania by German submarine U-20.­

On this visit I went with guests by ferry to Spike Island in the harbor, built up as a fortress and later made into one of the largest prisons in the world. After passing from British to Irish hands, the last convicts finally left this dreadful place in 2004.

A COBH ALBUM

This statue remembers Annie Moore and her brothers, said to be the first Irish emigrants to leave for Ellis Island in New York. There is another copy of the statue at Ellis Island.

All photos and text Copyright 2018 by Corey Sandler, all rights reserved.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

————-

Now available, the revised Second Edition of “Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession” by Corey Sandler, for the Amazon Kindle. You can read the book on a Kindle device, or in a Kindle App on your computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

If you would like to purchase an autographed copy, please see the tab on this page, “HOW TO ORDER A PHOTO OR AUTOGRAPHED BOOK”

Here’s where to order an electronic copy for immediate delivery:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IA9QTBM

Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession: The Tragic Legacy of the New World’s Least Understood Explorer (Kindle Edition)

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

2 June 2017:
Cobh, Ireland:
A Place of Beginnings and Endings

By Corey Sandler, Destination Consultant Silversea Cruises

Cobh is a place of epic beginnings and endings.

It is one of the closest ports of Europe to Canada and North America.

Cobh—or Queenstown as it was known then—was the place from which millions of Irish departed their homeland to seek a new start in the new world, the land of milk and honey, the place where the streets were paved with gold: America and Canada.

The population of Ireland was estimated at 8.2 million in 1841; half a century later, in 1891, the population was said to be 4.7 million.

As many as 4.5 million Irish arrived in America between 1820 and 1930, from Queenstown, other Irish ports, and British ports like Liverpool.

Today, in the United States, more than 10 percent of Americans trace their roots to Ireland.

Queenstown was the last piece of land touched by passengers on the doomed ship Titanic in 1912.

And Queenstown was just out of reach of the Lusitania, which came the other direction from New York before it was torpedoed and sunk off the Old Head of Kinsale in 1915.

A COBH ALBUM

A SIDE TRIP TO CORK

On this visit, we were off the ship early and onto a morning train up the estuary to the big city of Cork, about 15 miles away. In not-all-that-ancient times, the distance was enough to make the cities grow very differently.

Today, Cork is a lively town with a wealth of Georgian and Victorian buildings and a few pieces of idiosyncratic architecture as well.

Here are some photos from today:

Silver Wind at the dock, as seen from the train station on the other side of the quay.

An old mill in Cork, converted to apartments.

Inside and outside the English Market in the heart of Cork.

ALL PHOTOS COPYRIGHT COREY SANDLER 2017, all rights reserved.

You can help support this site by making purchases from
AMAZON.COM by clicking on the banner below.

Text and images copyright 2017 by Corey Sandler. All rights reserved. If you would like to purchase a high-resolution image, please contact me.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

————-

Now available, the revised Second Edition of “Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession” by Corey Sandler, for the Amazon Kindle. You can read the book on a Kindle device, or in a Kindle App on your computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

If you would like to purchase an autographed copy, please see the tab on this page, “HOW TO ORDER A PHOTO OR AUTOGRAPHED BOOK”

Here’s where to order an electronic copy for immediate delivery:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IA9QTBM

Henry Hudson Dreams cover

Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession: The Tragic Legacy of the New World’s Least Understood Explorer (Kindle Edition)

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS,  PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS