Page 34 - WDT MAGAZINE IRELAND ISSUE WINTER 2018

COBH

obh sits on Great Island in Cork Harbor, sur-
prisingly the second largest natural harbor in
Cthe world. The port was renamed Queenstown
from the period of 1849-1921 in honor of Queen Victo-
ria’s visit to Cobh in 1849. Its name changed back the
early 1920s with the establishment of the Irish Free
State. The bittersweet history of this Cobh/Queens-
town is both fascinating on heartbreaking beginning
as the exit port for 2.5 million of the six million Irish
people who immigrated to North America between
1848 and 1950.
We couldn’t help but feel the painful goodbyes as
we viewed the bronze statue of Annie Moore and her
brothers Anthony and Phillip. The trio was from County
Cork and was celebrated for being the first immigrants
to pass through Ellis Island in New York on January
1892. There’s a duplicate statue of Annie and her two
brothers at Ellis Island. The mass exodus from Ireland
gave birth to the Irish wake, where family and friends
would throw a wake for the living who leaving their
homeland and most likely would not, like the dead, be
seen again.
It took us just a few minutes to arrive at our desti-
nation, The Titanic Experience Cobh is located in the
original White Star Line ticket office on Casement
Square in the heart of the town. The building was the
departing point for thousands of passengers. When
you arrive, check-in with us at reception and let us tell
you the story of the 123 passengers who boarded the
Titanic from this port.

The Celebrity Silhouette at the Cobh
dock. Right: Passengers admire the
town as we pull into port. Opposite:
the charming main street of Cobh.

34 WDT MAGAZINE WINTER 2018