We Stand and Watch the World Sail By.

My friend and I went for a Sunday stroll not too far from home, and on the way we passed an old ruin of a church, it’s called Templebreedy Church, or the Church of Bridget.   This church was built about 1779, and was used for about 150 years, and there had been a church on this site previously, for maybe another 100 years!

This was the view looking out one of the windows, sadly now without glass or window frame, and slowly returning to the earth.    In the foreground of the view is an old Celtic cross gravestone, probably at least 100 years old, and across the mouth of the harbour you can see Roches Point Lighthouse.   This lighthouse stands at the entrance to Cork Harbour, and a lighthouse was first established in this spot almost 200 years ago.

Just imagine, the people looking out this window would have seen many ships sailing to and from the Port of Cork and from Queenstown, later called Cobh.   Cobh was the last stop on the maiden voyage of the Titanic in 1912, before she set sail for New York, and was also the place where the survivors of the Lusitania were brought to in May 1915, when the ship was sunk by a German torpedo not far from here during the First World War.

Let’s hope there were happier times too for the watchers at the window, like the little boats below that were out for a sailing lesson in the shelter of the harbour this morning!

Learning to sail in the calm waters

 

 

Color Your World : Magenta

Lisstening to the Band

The magenta daisies and petunias listen to the music on a summer day.   This photo was taken at the bandstand in Cobh, Co Cork, on a sunny weekend last summer.   Apart from its famous Cathedral overlooking the town, Cobh is well known because it was the last port of call for the Titanic 100 years ago.

A summer bouquet

Lined to Color Your World

 

Wordless Wednesday : Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon

Let’s listen to the Music

Containers : The Port of Cork

This week, the Weekly Photo Challenge has Containers as its subject, and here are a few shots of my home port, the Port of Cork.

The Port of Cork is the main seaport for container ships and cruise ships in southern Ireland, and is a natural harbour and river estuary where the River Lee flows into the sea.   Vessels up to 90 000 tonnes can navigate the deep water of the harbour, whilst closer to the city where the channels get narrower, only vessels up to 60 000 tonnes can enter, this is still a very sizeable vessel carrying a lot of goods.

Many of these big container ships are very dependant on tides, and have very little ‘turn around’ time in port, the Port of Cork provides pilot boats and towing facilities for the big ships, and it is strange to see little tugs manouvering these big ships fully laden with containers.  The very experienced crane operators do a good job of getting the containers off and stacked – like a giant Tetris game – in the shortest possible time!  Maybe it’s a nice job in summer time, but not one I would care to take on when it’s a stormy day!   You can see more about the Port of Cork here

 

Getting ready to unload the containers

A view up the River Lee to Cork city

The route up to the container port is very picturesque, coming up through the channel with Cobh with its magnificent cathedral and the port for cruise ships on one side, and Crosshaven and the Royal Cork Yacht Club on the other side, and Blackrock Castle, almost across the river from the container docks.

Blackrock Castle

Check this link to see more container traffic.

Weekly Photo Challenge : On the Move…By Boat

Before airlines, and cheap travel, the main means of transport from one country to another was the boat, or liner (I wouldn’t call them cruise liners as we know them today, as these liners were far from luxurious)

The last port of call for most of these liners before they crossed to America, was Cobh in County Cork (formerly known as Queenstown), and from the 1900s, hundreds of thousands of Irish people went to seek their fortune in America, and most of them never returned home, or saw their parents or family again.   This port saw an awful lot of sadness and tears.   Can you imagine what it must have been like, saying goodbye to your children, knowing that you might not see them again.   The children were off to a strange land, probably not knowing anyone, and as well as trying to make a living for themselves in a new country, they also did their best to send a little money home to their old parents left behind.    Once the parents died, there was no one to take care of their house or few acres of land, and perhaps that is one of the reasons you come across so many ruins and abandoned houses around Ireland.

Even up to the 60s, there were very few telephones in private houses, each village probably had a telephone in the post office, and the main form of communication in those days was the letter, which would take about 6 weeks to get from America to Ireland, or – usually if there was bad news – the dreaded telegram.

I grew up on a farm with my grandparents, and I remember in the mid 50s one of my aunts was leaving to join her husband in New York.  We had a  party in the house, called a ‘hauling home’ and all the neighbours called and brought a simple little gift, maybe a prayer book, or a little card, something for her to remember them by.   I suppose we were luckier than some families, as my aunt’s husband worked for an airline (TWA) so they did manage to come home every few years, but there were many others who never saw their children again.

Old pub sign

On a lighter note, the boat below is one that gives a lot of happiness to children as they put their money in the slot and ride the waves!

 

Linked to Weekly Photo Challenge : On the Move    and

A Word a Week Challenge :  Boat