Cobn, Ireland trip 2016 - Tourist attractions in Cobn, Ireland - Visit Cobn, Ireland 2016 - Ship RMS Titanic Travel Videos HD, World Travel Guide http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=World1Tube Cobh (pronounced 'cove') is a charming waterfront town on a glittering estuary, dotted with brightly coloured houses and overlooked by a splendid cathedral. It's popular with Corkonians looking for a spot of R&R;, and with cruise liners – each year around 60 visit the port, the second-largest natural harbour in the world (after Sydney Harbour in Australia). It's a far cry from the harrowing Famine years when more than 70,000 people left Ireland through the port in order to escape the ravages of starvation (from 1848 to 1950, no fewer than 2.5 million emigrants passed through in total). Cobh was also the final port of call for the Titanic; a poignant museum commemorates the fatal voyage's point of departure. Cobh is on the south side of Great Island, one of several islands which fill Cork Harbour. Visible from the waterfront are Haulbowline Island, once the base of the Irish Naval Service, and the greener Spike Island, formerly a prison, now owned by Cork City Council and visitable. See in Cobn, Ireland =================== Cobh, The Queenstown Story ===================== The howl of the storm almost knocks you off-balance, there's a bit of fake vomit on the deck, and the people in the pictures all look pretty miserable – that's just one room at Cobh Heritage Centre. Housed in the old train station (next to the current station), this interactive museum is way above average, chronicling Irish emigrations across the Atlantic in the wake of the Great Famine. There's also some shocking stuff on the fate of convicts, shipped to Australia in transport ships 'so airless that candles could not burn'. Scenes of sea travel in the 1950s, however, might actually make you nostalgic for a more gracious way of travelling the world. There's also a genealogy centre and a cafe. St Colman's Cathedral ================== Dramatically perched on a hillside terrace above Cobh, this massive French Gothic Cathedral is out of all proportion to the town. Its most exceptional feature is the 47-bell carillon , the largest in Ireland, with a range of four octaves. The biggest bell weighs a stonking 3440kg – about as much as a full-grown elephant! You can hear carillon recitals at 4.30pm on Sundays between May and September. The cathedral, designed by EW Pugin, was begun in 1868 but not completed until 1915. Much of the funding was raised by nostalgic Irish communities in Australia and the USA. Spike Island ============= This low-lying green island in Cork Harbour was once an important part of the port's defences, topped by an 18th-century artillery fort. In the second half of the 19th century, and again during the Irish War of Independence, it served as a prison and internment centre, gaining the nickname 'Ireland's Alcatraz'. Today you can enjoy a self-guided walking tour of the island and its fortifications, or pay more for a guided tour (€13.50/8.50); the ferry (www.spikeislandferry.com) from Kennedy Pier, Cobh, is included in price. Titanic Experience Cobh ------------------------------------------ The original White Star Line offices, where 123 passengers embarked on (and one lucky soul absconded from) the SS Titanic, now house this powerful insight into the ill-fated liner's final voyage. Admission is by tour, which is partly guided and partly interactive, with holograms, audiovisual presentations and exhibits; allow at least an hour. The technical wizardry is impressive but what's most memorable is standing on the spot from where passengers were ferried to the waiting ship offshore, never to return. Cobh Museum ============= Model ships, paintings, photographs and curious artefacts tracing Cobh's history fill this small but lively museum. It's housed in the 19th-century Scottish Presbyterian church overlooking the train station.

• published: 01 Jan 2016
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