Trains – Cork Spring

Midleton: Town & Kindred Spirits

Yesterday we took the train into Midleton. It’s about a half hour ride, most of the way sharing the same track as the train to Cobh, splitting off for the final two stops.

Midleton is a bit smaller than Cobh, with much less waterfront and no harbor to speak of. There are two main points of interest, the distillery and the Kindred Spirits memorial. I’ll make a separate post about the distillery, but here’s some thoughts and images about the memorial and the town.

Directly adjacent to the train station is Midleton’s hurling pitch. Unfortunately for us, the next match is a few months down the road.

This sculpture, near where the railway road lets you off into town, is entitled Flock of Geese, or some such. Seems to me that “Halp!” would be more appropriate.

Midleton is, essentially, a single main street kind of town. It’s about 7 or 8 blocks long, with enough restaurants, bars, bake shops, etc., for a town thrice its size, and a decent number of shoe stores, clothing stores, & real estate offices as well. The alleys and side lanes hold a few surprises, too.

Adjacent to the distillery is a pollinator garden. It’s still winter (even if the pagan calendar says it’s early spring), so not much is blooming. Roughly double the normal amount of rain has fallen across the country this February, so every small creek is racing.

The Kindred Spirits memorial is in a small park, roughly a kilometer south of the town center. Enough has been said about the memorial elsewhere that i don’t need to add anything. It was a truly humbling experience. I hope some of my photos can convey that feeling.

Cobh

On Wednesday, we bought a couple of Leap Cards and took the train down to Cobh. Cobh is in the big part of Cork Harbor, and is a port of call for the big cruise ships like Norwegian, Cruise and Maritime, and Princess. That’s also part of its history – the Titanic stopped in Cobh after leaving Southampton UK on its way to New York, and the Lusitania was nearest the port on its way back to Liverpool from New York when it was torpedoed in 1915. Both events feature prominently in the memorials set up throughout the town.

*A few views through a dirty train window. On the lower right is Fota Castle.*

Many of the people we’ve met have encouraged a visit to Cobh. It’s a scenic enough town, but, at least when there are no cruise ships at dock, a lot of the restaurants are closed, and many of the bars have their kitchens closed as well. On leaving the train station, the first stop is the Heritage Center, which provides details on both the Titanic and Lusitania, as well as some of the history of Irish emigration.

This statue commemorates Annie Moore, the first immigrant to pass through the new Immigration Center at Ellis Island, in New York City, in 1892. My family arrived there at the beginning of the 20th century. Claire was able to find her grandfather’s embarkation records. He sailed on the Saxonia, which departed Queenstown (as it was known before Irish independence) in April 1906, and arrived in Boston on the 26th of the month.

It’s about a 20 minute walk from the Heritage Center through town and beyond, to the Titanic Memorial Garden.

*Bottom right – view through the channel to the ocean from the garden.*

Survivors and victims of the sinking of the Lusitania were brought to Cobh.

Like any number of towns we’ve visited, the dominant building in Cobh is the Cathedral. This one is St. Colman’s.

Like many great buildings, it’s bigger on the inside.

Climb the hill past the school and the residential part of town, and the views of the countryside are pretty spectacular.

For me, though, the architecture, especially the old residences, was the most interesting thing in town. I could spend days there taking pictures in the changing light.