Early on Monday morning, our cruise ship made its way into the little port town of Cobh (pronounce ‘Cove’, the Gaelic name does not have a ‘v’) this morning. Cobh was the most important point of emigration for Ireland right into the 1960’s, and the last port of call for the ill-fated Titanic in 1912. Cork is not far away, but the excursion that we selected for the day took us elsewhere. A big coach bus took us via the M8 motorway (freeway) to the town of Cashel to visit the ‘Rock of Cashel’, a combination castle-cathedral. Maurín (‘Maureen’) told us all about the surroundings and some Irish history on the way. We were served us a hearty lunch of vegetable soup, boiled potato, diced carrots and chicken, and then we took a winding road back to the cruise ship with stops at the towns of Lismore, Midleton. I would say the stop at Lismore and its garden was the highlight of the day.
