Skibbereen, Clonakilty, Kinsale,Cobh, and Cork

Leaving Skibbereen.  We stayed at Havannah B&B with Mary Scully prop.  Here David and Gwen are finishing breakfast.

A picture of the house.  We stayed in the room in the middle.  The bathroom was a small as the one at the Church resturant and this one had a shower in it!

Traveling through Clonakilty. pop. 4200  This town is known for its famous Black Pudding.  For those that are wondering what it is.....Black pudding, blood pudding or blood sausage is a type of sausage made by cooking blood or dried blood with a filler until it is thick enough to congeal when cooled. The dish exists in various cultures from Asia to Europe and the Americas. Pig, cattle, sheep, duck, and goat blood can be used depending on different countries.  To me it tastes like a spicy course dark heavy sausage. sort of...So there you have it.  Should I bring some home for anyone to try?

and out of Clonakilty.

Arrived in Kinsale (pop 4100 ) in time for some tea and scone for David.  If we have feed

 David, we have a happy David!

In September 1601 a Spanish fleet achored here and was besieged by the English. An Irish army from the north who had asked the Spanish King for help, marched to help liberate the ships but was defeated in battle on Christmas eve.  For the Catholics, they were banned from Kinsale for 100 years before they could come back.  "Historians now cite 1601 as the begining of the end of Gaelic Ireland"

Kinsale is a cute town with narrow streets (like everywhere else!) and lots of shops.  I was even able to buy a pair of knitting needles.  I seem to have to do that every time I cometo Ireland and the same size.  My daughter even gave me a knitting kit with all sizes so this wouldn't happen. I of course have everyone except the one below the kit!! go figure..

David is looking at the crystal that is made here by Gerry Daly who used to work at Waterford Crystal.  He left there and started here in 1992 because he believed the quality was not the same any more.

Another corner of Kinsale.

We are arriving in Cobh. -pop 6800..Here is where there was much tragedy in its history. This is where 2.5 million people emigrated in order to escape starvation from the Famine.   In 1849 Cobh was renamed Queenstown after Queen Victoria paid a visit and in 1921 when Ireland gained her Independence it became Cobh again. It also was the world's first yatch club, the Royal Cork Yatch Club founded in 1720.

The town is built on a hill and the streets are so narrow, I had to back down the street to let someone by. This street is a major highway!

The Cobh Heritage center harbors a great exhibit of the Lusitania and the Titanic history. For many years Cobh was the port of Cork. In 1838 the Surius , the first steamship to cross the Atlantic sailed from Cobh. The Titanic made its last stop here in 1912 before its fateful journey and in 1915 when the Lusitania was torpedoed, many of its survivors and dead were brought here. It is a very well done exhibit.

David and Gwen are standing at the beginning of the exhibit which deplicts the beginning of a journey across the sea where you are in first class on the Titanic, a convict being transported to Austrialia or a Famine emigrant traveling to a place of hope.

 Annie Moore (January 1, 1877 - 1923) was the first immigrant to the United States to pass through the Ellis Island facility in New York Harbor. She departed from Cobh, County Cork, accompanied by her brothers Phillip and Anthony, aboard the steamship Nevada on January 1, 1892, her fifteenth birthday.

The harbour

This is a statue that homors all the passengers of the Lusitania.

The St. Colman's Cathedral. started in Its most exceptional feature is the 47 bell carillon, the largest in Ireland, with a range of four octives. The biggest bell weighs a stonking 3440 kg.- BIG !

As we were driving into Cork, we saw the crowds. Here was a submarine that was visiting from Netherlands. What you see on the top is only the tip of the iceberg.  It is 2/3 more under the water.

This young man was very serious with his duty.  It seems this is a stelth subamaine. It is one of very few around the world. It has special paint that cost in the millions every year to paint.

Cork's port.

Cork is the second largest city and the people here are very proud of their heritage.

Along the sides of the streets are these arms that come out with messages in between. I didn't really think they added much.

Heiniken Brewery in front of us.

I found this store interesting. Just something different.
It is late at night so we move on to Dublin next.
Cheerio :--)