Cobh in 2017 vs. 2023
I visited Cork back in September 2017 for the first and absolutely loved it. It’s hard to tell which Irish city is my favorite at this point but this has always been at the top even with just one visit! It’s small but picturesque and a great stop if you’re in the South of the country for a couple of days. I finally made it back to Cobh on this last trip to Ireland and it was fun to see some of the things I loved from my 2017 trip plus seeing some of the changes made to the town was nice!
Cobh is known as the last port of call for the Titanic in 1912 before they left Europe for America. There is a heritage center, a museum, and also a bar dedicated to this. The original dock is known to be behind the bar, although no longer functional, and it’s supposed to be where the small boats left Cobh harbor to get to the Titanic out near Spike Island since it was too big to come fully into the port. In 2017 we did the museum and I do recommend it if you have the time! It’s affordable and quite interesting. Below is the Titanic Bar (left 2017, right 2023). Fun fact: I used the left photo to officially announce my travel consulting business in 2019!
Another thing Cobh is famous for is the colorful row of houses called “The Deck of Cards Houses” located on West View street. When I first visited in 2017, we struggled to get the shots I had seen on Google and Instagram because at the time, there was a private home directly facing the Deck of Cards so we had to go to the above street and hoist ourselves up trying to get a photo from above a rock wall. I had seen people on the front lawn of this property on Instagram but I didn’t have the interest to get on private property or ask them for permission. The shot I got was good enough for me!
Fast forward to 2023, the private home is gone and the entire space is a park called West View Park, which is dedicated to the men who signed the Irish Declaration of Independence. It was a cute spot and so cool to see that they embraced the view and made a sweet park out of it. I tried to Google the history to see if the owners of the home had donated it or what the story was but I couldn’t find anything, unfortunately. It is definitely a steep hike up the street from the town center but thankfully the park is only halfway up the street and it’s manageable. Plus there are benches to rest once you get there!
Another thing I was trying to photograph during my 2017 trip to Cobh was a view of the rows of houses from the water. I had seen professional photos on Conde Nast Traveler but couldn’t really figure out how to get to the water easily without paying a ton to rent a boat. For our 2023 trip, I was determined to figure it out and I found a company that rents out small self-driving boats. I reached out to them and learned the photos I had seen were likely from a cruise ship because they were from a higher vantage point but that we would still be able to see the same view. It was 60 euros per boat (up to 5 guests) for 1 hour and it was worth it!
We all really like boating and being on the water so it was a great activity for us. We got insanely lucky with the weather for April so once we saw it was going to be nice out, we booked two boats last minute and went all around the harbor and around the two islands outside the harbor. It’s 100% self drive and was very easy but you are following a guide and you get to stop a few times to learn from them about the area/islands. It was interesting!
It was great to accomplish one of my goals of photographing and seeing Cobh from the water and while some things changed, so many amazing things remained the same about this amazing Irish town. There are lots of little shops and places to eat so I highly recommend adding it to your itinerary if you’re heading to the South coast!