Cobh – The Queenstown Story

This attraction has been created in a wing of the railway station and made to look in parts as it did around the early 1900s. Cobh is famous as the last port of call of the Titanic prior to its sinking and this event is the center for much of the ‘Cobh — The Queenstown Story’ attraction. As you enter the building, you can see many of the old posters advertising a trip on the Titantic as well as other old signs and decorations that attempt to center the building as if you stepped back into time.
As you enter the Cobh Heritage Center, there is a nice café with a really decent selection of coffees, cappuccinos and different hot and cold foods including sandwiches made to order and hot soup. It was rather cold and rainy that day so we opted for a cappuccino and a mushroom soup which were well worth what we paid. They have plenty of seating for the café, including three baby seats which is rather rare. The service was incredibly friendly at the café as well.
As you walk back to the entrance to the actual «Queenstown Story» you pass many historical storyboards and memorials to the many maritime disasters in which Cobh had a piece of history. This includes being the location where the survivors of the Lusitania disaster were taken after the German u-​boat sank the ship in the nearby waters. The most famous of course would be that of the Titanic.
The actual Queenstown Story attraction entrance is at the back of this building. Tickets for adults were 7.50 Euro each with cheaper rates for students and seniors. We also had our young son with us (18 months) and he was free.
As you enter and visit various parts of the attractions inside, sounds play to simulate what different times and events in the history of the town must have been like. Sometimes this music, which was driven by motion sensors was a little too loud. The story simulates life aboard the slow ships which travelled across the Atlantic carrying those emigrating, prison ships taking the 9 month voyage to Australia and also many references to the famine and the troubling times that brought. The conversion to steam ships and the resulting speed of travel and eventual decline of ships in favor of air travel was all covered from beginning to modern times. There was also a focus on the Titanic with many white star line artifacts from sister ships to give you an idea of the experiences aboard the Titanic. There is also touching letters sent from the Titanic as it docked for its last port of call here in Ireland.
Overall, this was an excellent attraction and well worth taking the time to see while in Cobh. We also went to the Titanic experience, which is just down the road, but really enjoyed the many exhibits in this attraction. The Titanic experience may have been more interactive, but this had more exhibits and items to view.

Housed in the former Victorian Railway Stations main hall, (a single line to Cork still adjoins the main building). The heritage centre, complete with it’s own genealogy centre, tells the story of the estimated 2.5 million people that left these shores from this very spot forever. Although this itself is roughly a third of the number that left all Ireland in a century of emigration that really began with the 1846 famine, Cobh was to be the single most important port of departure.
Cobh is literally pronounced cove, and is indeed the cove of nearby Cork, although it was named Queenstown from 1849, until the time when it’s original name was revived in 1922.
The Queenstown story is very well presented, I liked the recreation of life on board a ship from steerage bunks to upper decks, and clearly an awful lot of thought & imagination has gone into creating an environment that will appeal to everyone from easily distracted children through to American tourists, although some might say there is no disparity between the two!
For transatlantic liners, departing English ports like Liverpool or Southampton, Cobh was always the last port of call before heading west. Many familiar large ships would have anchored just a couple of miles offshore, with smaller tender vessels ferrying passengers to & from the quayside here. The most famous of all of them of course was RMS Titanic.
At 1.30pm on Thursday 11^th April 1912 Titanic sailed after a 2 hour visit to take on just 123 passengers to bring her total complement up to 2206, 1517 of which were to drown with the ship 3 days later.
There is a famous photograph taken by a Father Frank Browne, one of 7 passengers to have disembarked from the ship here, that frames this small exhibition, the last image of a legendary ship. However I was left wanting more here than the exhibition could ever provide.
The museum is much better about another ill fated 4-​funneled liner, RMS Lusitania. The Lucy as she was nick-​named was torpedoed in 1915, just up the coast from here of Kinsale, with a loss of life almost on the same scale, (a small number of the victims were buried in the nearby cemetery).
One of my favourite exhibits was the old phone kiosk of the period, where by picking up the receiver you can listen to tape recordings of both witnesses to the tragedy & survivors. Also because there are personal belongings on show recovered from the wreck, these prove to be a more persuasive reminder of human tragedy than the Titanic exhibit with only it’s words & photos.
If you’re interested in the Lusitania, seek out my review of nearby Kinsale Tourist Office as well.
Overall this is a very impressive experience, particularly thought provoking on the 19^th century mass exodus from Ireland. It will easily absorb you for an hour or two’s visit, if not there’s an extremely well stocked gift shop & coffee & snack bar!
However it’s only when you’re outside, gazing out beyond the statue of Ellis Island Annie & her brothers, far out to sea, & recall those millions whose last sight of their homeland this was, that you begin to get a true sense of perspective on the place.