Cobh, The Queenstown Story


The howl of the storm almost knocks you off-balance, there's a bit of fake vomit on the deck, and the people in the pictures all look pretty miserable – that's just one room at Cobh Heritage Centre. Housed in the old train station (next to the current station), this interactive museum is way above average, chronicling Irish emigrations across the Atlantic in the wake of the Great Famine.

Other exhibits include some shocking stuff on the fate of convicts, shipped to Australia in transport ships 'so airless that candles could not burn'. Scenes of sea travel in the 1950s, however, might actually make you nostalgic for a more gracious way of travelling the world. There's also a genealogy centre and a cafe. The last admission is one hour before closing.


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