The Town with Three Names

Saturday was the absolute highlight of the weekend. That morning, Tatiana, Megan, and I headed on the commuter train to Cobh (An Cóbh), a little harbour town. Cobh was the big southern port for immigrants leaving the country. I think they said that around 2.5 million of the 6 million who have left the country immigrated through Cobh.

So we hopped on the train and half an hour later we were in Cobh (pronounced "cove"). We learned at the heritage museum that Cobh has had lots of names--first Cove, then Queenstown (so named because it was the first place that Queen Victoria stepped in Ireland), and then back to the original name of Cobh after Ireland became independent in the 20's. Just another reminder of the influence the British have had on the country! The first place we went was a museum that commemorated all the harbour activity and the people who left Ireland. And it really covered everything--the prisoners who were shipped out to Australia, people who left for America and Canada during hard times like the Great Famine (An Gorta Mór or An Drochshaol), and tragedies like the sinking of the Lusitania. They had lots of cool artifacts like letters, medals, and trinkets that the immigrants would have taken with them.

They also had a pretty big memorial to the Titanic, since Cobh was the ship's last port of call before it headed off for America, and where it picked up most of its third class/steerage passengers. Since the Titanic and Lusitania sinkings were such big deals, they have memorial statues and such everywhere throughout the town. You are supposed to be able to see the anchorage from the Titanic from a certain point on the coast, but since I didn't know which way was north (oops), I couldn't figure it out. Apparently, the town also took in a lot of the survivors of the Lusitania sinking, so it seemed like a pretty big deal. I was hoping to go to another museum next (since they have lists of immigrants who left the country through Cobh), but it's only open from May to October without appointments. So, who knows, maybe I'll go back in May to see if any relatives are listed there!

The rest of the town was really adorable, too. There are all this little shops, a beautiful cathedral (St. Colman's), and a cute little park right on the water, complete with a gazebo. It's named Kennedy Park...they sure do like people with Irish roots over here! And everything is set on these extremely narrow, winding streets that twist up and down the hills that Cobh is set on. It was a little bit of a workout to walk around, but there were great views, and the town definitely had a unique feel! Part of it reminded me of the little towns on the beach we would stay at on vacation in the summer, since a lot of the houses had names and stuff like that. Even though it was cloudy and a little bit cold, it was definitely a day trip worth taking!

We got back to Cork around 4 PM, which meant that it was time for rugby! Ireland is in the middle of the 6 Nations Rugby Tournament--Ireland, France, Italy, England, Scotland, and Wales. So we ran over to Old Oak to experience watching a live game in the pub, and THE CRAIC WAS MIGHTY! It was SO much fun! Ireland was playing France, and there were enough French people there that both sides were yelling and it was exciting the whole time! The game was really competitive--France dominated the first half, and Ireland dominated the second, but it ended up not being enough and France won the match, 26-21. So Ireland is 1-1 (I forget if I mentioned that they won last week against Italy), and in third place in the tournament. The next game is against Wales during the weekend in Belfast, and I can't wait! I'm also wondering who the people in Northern Ireland cheer for...I still don't understand all the rules in rugby and what's going on, but I have to say that I think I prefer watching rugby over American football. I'm starting to get really into the games--I was happily yelling along with all the Irish in the pub! It's nice to feel like a tiny part of Irish culture.

Everything else is still going well, too. With school, I have two essays due in a little over a week, so I'm just working on those. Wednesday was our Irish flatmate's birthday, so we cooked dinner and baked a cake for her, and then took her out in Cork, which was tons of fun because we hadn't hung out outside of the flat yet. So, happy 20th to Ashley! And we're also trying to plot out with a little more detail our trips to Italy and Spain for spring break, like trying to figure out how long to stay in each city, and maybe which hostels to use. If anyone who has studied abroad in those countries has any tips, feel free to pass them along!