A lifetime of Islands: Island 53 - Great Island, County Cork

Cobh is an attractive and very interesting town on Great Island. It is a port and was the departure point, firstly for convicts being transported to the West Indies and Australia, and later for millions of Irish people emigrating to North America at the time of the Great Famine and later, so it must have been a sad place in its time. It was called Queenstown from 1849 to 1922 in honour of Queen Victoria, who paid a visit on 2nd August 1849. Nowadays the passenger traffic is in the reverse direction: huge cruise ships dock at Cobh and bring hundreds of visitors into the town.

Phoenician traders called into Cobh to swap their wine and silk for wood over 2,000 years ago. The Greek astronomer/geographer/mathematician Ptolemy called Cork Harbour "Dabrona". However Cobh was not developed as a town until after 1750 when it began to be used by the British navy. Cork Harbour is a huge safe harbour. By the early 20th century Cobh had developed as a holiday destination for the citizens of Cork.

The history of emigration from Cobh is told at the Queenstown Story, which is housed in part of the old railway station. The town is still served by a railway line but the current railway station is located to the west of the old one.

A Titanic Experience visitor attraction is housed in the old White Star Line Offices on the waterfront. Queenstown was the last port of call for the Titanic in April 1912. 123 people boarded the ship there and 79 of them died in the disaster. In 2013 a Titanic Memorial Garden was opened to the east of the town centre, overlooking the spot where the Titanic was anchored. There is a glass wall, which is inscribed with the names of the 123 people who boarded the ship at Queenstown. There is also a memorial stone to Bruce Ismay, the Chairman of the White Star Line, who survived the sinking.

There is also a Cobh Museum, which is housed in an old church to the west of the town centre. I haven't visited it yet - maybe next time.

The island has a tennis club in Cobh, a riding centre at Ballywilliam, a golf course on the western side of the island and a sailing/powerboat club at the eastern end.

Much of the Great Island is rural and farmed. At the south eastern end are Marlogue Woods, where there is a car park, picnic site and some marked walking trails. The site is managed by Coillte.

Cuskinny Marsh Nature Reserve, which is managed by Birdlife Ireland, is located in the centre of the south coast of the island. There is also a beach as Cuskinny.

Lusitania Memorial

This was begun by Jerome Connor and completed after his death by Donal Murphy

The Lusitania was sunk by a German U-boat off the Old Head of Kinsale on 7th May 1915 1,198 people died and the 764 survivors were brought ashore in Cobh. 169 of the bodies that were recovered are buried in Clonmel Cemetery on the northern edge of Cobh, in three mass graves and some private ones. The Old Graveyard around the roofless church of St John the Baptist also contains British military graves and those of drowned sailors.

One of the Mass Graves for victims from the Sinking of the Lusitania

Lusitania Memorial in Clonmel Cemetery

Oldest grave in Clonmel Cemetery - Step(h)en Towse who died in 1698

St Benedict's Priory Bible Garden with St Colman's Cathedral in the background

Building work on the cathedral started in 1868 but it was not completed until 1915 when work on the spire was finished. It is built in the French Gothic style. It houses a 49 bell carillon, which is the largest in the British Isles.

St Colman's Cathedral

St Benedict's Priory Bible Garden

Titanic Memorial, Cobh

Titanic Mural

This was painted to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the disaster

Titanic Mural

Queenstown Story in the Old Railway Station

Annie Moore Statue outside the Old Railway Station

Annie Moore was the first immigrant to be processed at Ellis Island in New York Harbour on 1st January 1892, having left Cobh on December 20th 1891 with her two brothers on the ship SS Nevada.

Colourful buildings in Cobh

Sonia O'Sullivan's Statue

The runner Sonia O'Sullivan was born in Cobh in 1969 and began her running career with a club on Great Island. She won a gold medal in the 5000 metres at the 1995 World Athletics Championships. She won silver medals in the 5000 metres at the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000 and in the 1500 metres at the 1993 World Championships. She also won 3 European Championship gold medals and two World Cross-Country Championship gold medals. A statue of her on the waterfront in the centre of Cobh was unveiled in September 2015.