The picturesque port of Cobh (pronounced Cove) is located on Ireland’s southern coast, a short stitch east of the bustling city of Cork.
Like a lush wool-knit sweater, Cobh captures all the elements of “The Mood” tourists seek when they imagine the Emerald Isle: a magnificent anchorage ringed with pastel buildings leaning into each other like tipsy “boy-o’s” on a pub crawl; streets angling up a steep incline to St. Coleman’s, a cathedral looming over the town like a fretting monseigneur; a feisty school of fishing dorries occupying black waters that lead to the open sea…. a sea that has forever carved Cobh’s place in maritime history.
Between 1848 and 1950 six million people emigrated from Ireland to America and Canada; two and a half million from Cobh. Between 1791 and 1853, 40,000 convicts were sent to Australian penal colonies in “coffin ships”. Many of these prisoners would die in transit. As well, inmates from the teeming Cork jail were kept off shore on floating prisons.
Situated on one of the finest natural harbors in the world, the town was a British naval base until 1937. Many famous vessels graced its inlets, including the paddle steamer ‘Sirius’, which, in 1838 became the first ship to cross the Atlantic to New York without sail. Packed transports carried young men to conflicts such as the American War of Independence and the Crimean, Boer and First World Wars. To this very day, magnificent ocean liners routinely call at Cobh to allow tourists inland to Blarney Castle to Kiss the Stone.
The town is tragically connected to two of the greatest sea disasters of all time. In 1915, the Lusitania was torpedoed off Cove with the loss of 1198 lives. Many victims are buried in the Old Church Cemetary not far from the town Centre.
Cobh is also home to the former offices of White Star agents, James Scott and Company. The waterfront building was erected in the 1830’s and today houses the Post Office and ‘Titanic Queenstown’ Bar and Restaurant. And it is this restaurant which is the treasure of Cobh both for the cuisine it prepares and the ambiance it provides.
The Titanic-Queenstown is a remarkable dining experience in a world full of them. Repleat with trellised ivy, oval topped mirrors and Villeroy & Boch tiling, guests are able to partake of fine wine and food in rooms which are exact replicas of the First Class dining facilities of the RMS Titanic.
The staff, overseen with true Irish wit and cosmopolitan flare by Trevor, the manager, are captivatingly charming; and the food, among the most reasonably priced and tasty cuisine, in all of Ireland. (my personal favourite is the salmon!)
The principal restaurant overlooks Heartbreak Pier where many of the emigrants fled Ireland in the 19th century and where 3rd class passengers boarded the tender America to reach the Titanic at her final anchorage. The pub, located immediately below the dining room, houses a most remarkable collection of Titanic and Lusitania memorabilia, set amid stirring images of the great Cunard liners of yesteryear, boarding passes, luggage labels, travel posters and fleet pennants.
The town of Cobh brings new meaning to the word mystique and to capture that mood forever, dinner at the Titanic Queenstown Restaurant in Cobh, County Cork, Ireland is a must! It truly earns a 5 solid shamrock rating!!!
The Titanic
Scott’s Building Cobh Co Cork
Phone 353 021 4855200
