Chapter 6
Cork, Ireland
And
Plymouth, England
May 1 – May 2, 2024
Introduction
We are working our way south, into warmer weather. Some of the vegetation even started looking somewhat tropical with the Gulf Stream providing a warming influence. We will be visiting one more port in Ireland, Cobh (and the close city of Cork) and then on to our last sight-seeing port, Plymouth, England. Purely by coincidence, both ports and associated excursions will feature a different mode of transportation for at least part of the time.
Cobh (Cork), Ireland and Plymouth, England
Cork (Cobh), Ireland: Wednesday, May 1
Let’s get one thing out of the way up-front: the port city is Cobh and just a few miles inland from there is the city of Cork. Most people seemed to just refer to the area as Cork, probably because it is the larger and better known city. Or possibly because, like me, they are not sure just how to pronounce “Cobh”. In any case, I will generally use the Cork name except when it makes a true difference.
Today we are going to visit yet another castle, but this one has a rather well known feature. We’re going to see the Blarney Stone at the Blarney Castle, about 15 or 20 miles from the port of Cobh. Our method of transportation will be a bit different this time, at least for part of the trip. Rather than getting on another tour bus, we were starting out on a train.
The train station was immediately adjacent to the dock and just behind a row of tour busses. Although the train terminal was literally a stones throw from Sirena, we had to walk along the dock and around a “Cobh Heritage Center” to get around a fence and the train tracks.
The train tracks and terminal, just beyond the busses.
Also within sight of the Sirena was the St Coleman’s Cathedral and the waterfront of Cobh. We would be seeing more of the cathedral later. You can also see the Cobh Heritage Center which we had to walk around to get to the train terminal.
Cobh waterfront and spire of St Coleman’s Cathedral
This was an independent tour, not offered by Sirena; we had about 12 people on it, and everyone got to the terminal a little early, so we were able to catch a slightly (15 minutes) early train and get started. This train appeared to be primarily a tourist and commuter train as the locomotive was modern while the coaches were somewhat old, but well maintained. We settled in for what turned out to be about a 20 minute ride taking us to the Cork train station. We got a good view of the local area and even saw a brief rainbow over the harbor.
Rainbow over the Cobh harbor
The Cork train station was the end of the line for us, so we left the train, walked through the station, and, of course, boarded a tour bus. We would have about a 30 minute ride to get to the Blarney Castle grounds.
Arriving at the Cork train terminal
Arriving close to the Blarney castle, the bus dropped us off a little distance from the entrance and our tour guide said that, at the end of our visit, we would meet back at this location. Most of us, of course, did not really take a good look around and figure out where we were in relation to the castle grounds, so you can probably anticipate what happened later.
We all entered the castle grounds with our guide giving us a little history of the castle and area. Although the original castle was built before 1200, the initial wood structure and the following stone castle were both destroyed and the current structure was built in 1446.
First views of the Blarney Castle
According to the Wikipedia information about the Blarney Castle: “At the top of the castle lies the Stone of Eloquence, better known as the Blarney Stone. Tourists visiting the castle may hang upside-down over a sheer drop to kiss the stone, which is said to give the gift of eloquence. There are many versions of the origin of the stone, including a claim that it was the Lia Fáil — a numinous stone upon which Irish kings were crowned.”
Our guide said that we were very fortunate because there was typically a one to two hour queue to climb up and kiss the Blarney stone, but we had essentially no delay. Apparently, our slightly early start had gotten us there before the crowd arrived. I’m not sure I would have liked to make the climb among a large crowd as it was a bit “interesting” as it was. We first passed through a couple of relatively large rooms which were probably some kind of grand ballroom then got to the tower where the staircase was located.
One of the large rooms: stairs on the right were just getting started.
Like at the Conwy castle the previous day, the stairway was a tight circular staircase with no handrails, only a rope hanging down the central column which you could hang onto for a little stability. The circular staircase was probably about the equivalent of 5 flights of normal stairs and when we got to the top of that, we had another flight of normal stairs to get to the walkway around the top of the battlement. We did have a good view from here.
The view from the top of Blarney Castle
This is where we finally had to queue up to actually get to the Blarney stone, with probably about 15 or 20 people in front of us. Susan and I had already decided that we were not going to actually “kiss” the stone: she because it would probably be rather unsanitary, me because I’m not at all sure I would be able to bend my back and neck as would be needed. Besides, we already have enough “Eloquence”.
The Blarney Stone is directly in front of the guy in the green jacket.
As we waited our turn to get to the Blarney Stone there were a number of signs with information about the castle and stone. (Did you notice that the initials for Blarney Stone is, appropriately, “BS”?)
More information about the BS
When you got to the BS, there was one guy there to “sanitize” the stone after each kiss and another to document the kiss with a photo which could, of course, be purchased. To kiss the BS, you had to lay down on the plastic mat, on your back and contort your back and neck so you could kiss the stone. I decided that having a photo of the stone was good enough.
The often-kissed Blarney Stone
After “visiting” the stone, we continued on around the battlement to the stairs that would take us back down. This stairway was another circular staircase, but this time we actually had a solid handrail… luxury! This staircase took us down to a large open room where we could get our bearings again, before finding the final exit stairs.
Another large room that might have been open
We left the castle with lots of time before we needed to meet up with out tour group again, so we had plenty of time to explore the grounds and the extensive gardens. There were several specialty gardens, including one that was a “poison garden” with many poisonous, or at least potentially dangerous, plants.
The poison garden was on the right side of this area.
Besides the manicured gardens, there was an extensive wooded area with some interesting trees and unusual plants. One tree looked like it must have been trained into the unusual shape, but the information sign said that this was its natural shape.
Hard to believe this was a natural shape
There were several unique or specialty gardens, such as the fern forest (below) with what appeared to be ferns growing as tall as trees. There were also several gardens with flowering plants and some animal sculptures sprinkled around.
The Fern Forest
After wandering around the gardens for about an hour, it was time to get something to eat at the little café which was housed in what used to be the stables. We actually timed it right as it started to rain just as we got to the stables, so we got a little to eat, some hot tea to warm us up, and sat out the rain in the dry stables. After it stopped raining, we wandered around the grounds a while longer and started on our way out.
Leaving the Blarney Castle
But, we weren’t done with the Blarney Stone legends and myths yet. On the grounds, off to one side of the castle, we found the Seven Sisters, a circle of seven standing stones in a circle, similar to the stone circles we had visited earlier on our trip. Besides the seven standing stones, there are two more stones lying on the ground. There does not seem to be any definite information on who arranged the stones or when it was done: they might be a recent as the 19th century… or perhaps not. The company that maintains the gardens provides one version of the myth about the Seven Sisters.
The Blarney Stone is not the only stone with legends attached to it. Just northeast of the Castle can be found a circle of nine standing stones, two of which have fallen. It is said that in medieval times a chieftain who had two young sons and seven daughters took his sons on their first battle against a troublesome neighbour who was constantly raiding his cattle. The chieftain was victorious in the battle but at great cost: both his sons were killed. Returning to his cattle with his troops and the bodies of his sons, he stopped at this familiar spot and to mark the death of his sons the grieving chieftain ordered his men to knock over two of the stones.
The Seven Sisters (and two more lying down)
It was getting close to the time for us to meet up with the rest of our tour group and our guide, so we headed back to the meeting place… we thought. We soon realized that it was not quite where we thought it was. Through our exploration and a helpful local resident, we did soon find the area where we were to meet and, not surprisingly, there were a couple of restaurants and a large Irish good store for souvenir shopping. We soon piled back into the bus and headed to our next stop.
This one was a little strange as the bus pulled into a retail shopping area adjacent to a cemetery. There were actually several things of interest about this cemetery: the most significant is that it is the burial place for many of the victims of the cruise ship Lusitania sinking. The Lusitania was torpedoed by a German submarine on May 7, 1915 and sank in 20 minutes with the loss of almost 1200 lives. It is still debated today whether the Lusitania was carrying armaments or other war supplies but the sinking effectively brought the USA into the first World War. There is a stone marker and a plaque marking where many of the people, both crew and passengers, were buried.
A stone marker and plaque for the Lusitania victims
After paying our respects, we boarded the bus and headed back to Cobh for our next stop, the St Coleman’s Cathedral. The bus parked along the street close to the cathedral and we walked into the building. (The driver apparently got some kind of parking ticket for parking the bus where he did.) It was quite impressive. I am often amazed at the size of the cathedrals and the amount of work and resources that had to go into them, although the community they served when built was relatively small. St Coleman’s is a relatively new cathedral, having been completed just over 100 years ago in 1919 but the gothic style makes it look much older.
The interior of St Coleman’s Cathedral
After leaving the cathedral, we had one more, very brief, stop before getting back to the dock and the Sirena. There is a row of brightly painted houses that are relatively narrow along one road that have been nicknamed “the deck of cards” houses. If you drive down the right street and briefly stop in the right place, you can get what is now a somewhat famous view of the deck of cards in front of the cathedral. Of course, I could not resist, even if it did have to be through the bus wiondow.
The “Deck of Cards” in front of the St Coleman’s Cathedral
We got back to the Sirena about 3:30, in plenty of time prior for our departure at 4:30, and relaxed a while before getting for a glass of wine in the Martinis lounge, followed by dinner in the Grand Dining Room. The entertainment tonight was a show by the Sirena production company (band and singers) that was called “Showdown” and was supposed to be 60s/Motown based. I suspect the British band and singers just did not really understand Motown: we walked out before it was over.
Plymouth, England: Thursday, May 2
Our last day of our cruise would be spent in the vicinity of Plymouth, England, where the Mayflower Pilgrams set sail on their way to the new world in 1620. We would be traveling back a little into history today, but not quite that far. We would start our journey with a boat trip, although a rather short one. This was the only port on our cruise where we were not able to dock the Sirena and had to use the tenders to get us to shore. The tenders (also the life boats) could accommodate more than 100 people, so they are not exactly small.
Inside the tender
The tender took us from the ship into the harbor and dropped us off on a dock with a long walkway up to the main sidewalks. As we walked up the walkway, there was a welcoming committee: a three man drum corps drumming us into Plymouth and a “town crier” who read a welcome proclamation when the drummers stopped. If you look at the small photo at the top right of this page, you will see the three drummers with the town crier behind them. Or, you can watch and listen to the drummers in this short video.
After the official welcome, we loaded onto a tour bus and headed to our first stop, the Buckfast Abby, home to a Community of Roman Catholic Benedictine Monks in Devon, England, about 40 minutes from Plymouth. The main part of the Abby is impressive and there are multiple supporting buildings for various activities, such as a conference center.
The main cathedral of the Abby
We entered the cathedral and first went to Blessed Sacrament Chapel that has several striking colored glass features, including one wall using the dalle de verre technique where colored-glass tiles are shaped and formed into mosaics bound with resin. You can get a look at this unique chapel in this video.
The main part of the cathedral is also impressive, with a large, high nave, an ornate choir, and a relatively simple but beautiful alter with a large chandelier hanging overhead.
Looking through the choir toward the alter
The rest of the church was beautiful, with some impressive artwork in the ceiling that you can see at the end of this short video. The Abby, in its current form, is relatively new, but the beginnings of the Abby were laid long ago. The original Abby was established in 1018 but, like many such efforts, suffered multiple destructions and rebuilds. This iteration of the Abby was really established in 1882 when the site was (re)purchased by some French Benedictine monks, who worked to prepare the site and raise funds for the new cathedral. Construction began in 1907 with a large part of the construction work done by the monks themselves. Construction of the cathedral was completed in 1938.
Besides the cathedral and accompanying buildings (gift shops, restaurant, conference center, hotel, etc.) there are several gardens, both decorative and productive, with many fruit trees that have been pruned and shaped into unusual forms. There are also several sculptures scattered in the gardens, including some wire-form animals.
Notice the wire-form deer drinking from the pond.
After looking around the gardens and some relatively interesting gift shops for a while, we loaded back into the bus for a 20 minute ride to the town of Paignton, where we would take up another form of travel: Steam!
The steam train station
We arrived at the steam train station about 20 minutes prior to scheduled departure time, so we had a little time to look around and wait for the train. We have ridden a steam train previously (Durango - Silverton train), but I was still surprised at how quiet the train was when it did arrive. It came into the station with very little sound, and I was about as close to it as you could safely get. We loaded into the tourist oriented cars and found seats for the 8 mile trip to the town of Dartmouth.
Engine 7827 pulled into the Paignton station right on time.
The train never went very fast, but we certainly were not in a hurry. We got some good views of the countryside and also some of the beaches, lined with rental changing rooms, as you can see in the collage photo below. As we pulled into Dartmouth, there were lots of boats in the bay which we would soon see more of. At the Dartmouth station, we got off the train and it turned around for the return trip.
A collage of scenes along the steam train ride
For a little better feel for the train ride, you might want to take a look at this multi-segment video of the trip.
At the end of the train ride, we gathered all of our group together and headed down a ramp to a dock and the ferry that would take us across the river Dart to the town of Dartmouth. (“Dartmouth” means “the mouth of the river Dart” and Dartmouth is located at the mouth of the river where it empties into the ocean.)
The ferry that will take us to the other side and Dartmouth
An interesting building with a interesting car in front
Once in Dartmouth proper, our tour guide gave us about two hours to look around and get some lunch, but with no suggestions or hints on where to find restaurants. We wandered around for a few minutes and finally came across a little “hole in the wall” type place that seemed to be very busy with what looked like local people. All tables were taken, but one table opened up while we were debating going elsewhere and we grabbed it. We ended up having a delightful meal with each of us getting different sandwich plates which turned out to be delicious. Service was good, food was delicious, and the price was excellent. I just wish I could remember the name of the place.
After lunch we had time to look around for a while.
The Dartmouth small boat harbor
The town seemed to be somewhat organized around a small boat harbor which had a “under the road” connection to the river. As you would expect, many of the buildings were rather old, or at least “old-looking”. Across the harbor in the photo above was a well kept park.
The Royal Avenue Gardens park
The park was not large, but provided a place for us to wander around until time to board the bus which was parked adjacent to the gardens. We had about a 45 minute ride back to the harbor in Plymouth where we boarded the tender for the ride back to Sirena. I was a little disappointed that the drum corps was not there to give us a proper send-off.
As usual, we enjoyed a glass of wine in Martinis lounge, listening to the piano player, prior to dinner. This evening we had reservations for the Tuscan Steak restaurant and this time I did not have the prime rib, “small” or otherwise.
Phillipus serving drinks and Alexandr at the piano
The entertainment was supposed to be some kind of special show, but they had “technical problems”, so Michelle Montuori filled in with a Beatles special and some other songs. We had to finish packing to get our luggage ready and outside our door on time so we did not feel bad about leaving the show early.
Southampton to Heathrow airport: Friday, May 3
Disembarkation and departure from the ship went reasonably well. It was well organized and the busses to different destinations were waiting for us as we left the ship and claimed our luggage. There were not many signs, but plenty of people to direct us to the proper bus, although there did appear to be some last minute changes. We had signed up for a bus to Heathrow airport where we had a 1:30 flight departure time.
The travel time to Heathrow from Southampton was a little less than 90 minutes with no stops or touring along the way. When we got to Heathrow, the bus first stopped at terminal 5, on the west end of the airport, to let a few people off. I knew the Delta flights were out of terminal 3 which was in the mid-field complex of terminals. After terminal 5, we rode around about a third of the airport perimeter to terminal 4 where more people left us. Then it seemed like we rode forever, but actually about half way around the perimeter to the tunnel that leads to the mid-field terminal complex. Our next stop was terminal 2 for a few people and I assumed we were getting close to our stop. The driver did drive us around for about another 5 minutes, but then entered a drop off area that was, again, labeled as terminal 2, telling us that terminal 3 people should get out here. We exited the bus, got our luggage, and looked around as the bus drove off: there was no sign of terminal 3 here. There was some construction in the area, but the driver did not give us any suggestion of how to get to terminal 3 and there were no signs. Susan and I were leading the group of terminal 3 people and we asked a man who appeared to be an airport worker and he said something like: “take the lift over there (pointing to a bank of elevators) down one level, get out, turn right, and walk that way and keep walking, just keep walking, until you get to terminal 3.” It wasn’t quite that simple, but after walking probably close to a mile, we did get to the terminal 3 lobby area where there were people to assist and from then on it was smooth sailing. We checked in, cleared security, and wandered through the shopping area. Our premium select class tickets got us access to the Virgin Atlantic passenger lounge where we enjoyed some nice snacks and a glass of wine while we waited for time for our flight.
Our departure gate turned out to have a somewhat strange configuration and there was some confusion around the gate area, but we finally boarded our flight about on time, although there was some kind of delay before we actually departed.
You have now made it to almost the end of this trip report: you should click on the “Back” button or icon to get you back to the mainline document for a few final comments.