Cork, Ireland

[timetravler]

Do you know if there is a ATM near the train station on Cobh so I can get some Euro's?

[Thoie]

Great, thanks so much. I now believe our ship arrives into Cobh, not Cork which is even better. Taking the train to Cork would be a breeze.

 

Not many ships go all the way up the river to Cork city, and no cruise ships that I can think of (very expensive piloting and fairly shallow draft in some places). Here's the Port of Cork cruise schedule for 2014 if you want to check:

http://www.portofcork.ie/index.cfm/page/cruiseschedule2010

 

 

Do you know if there is a ATM near the train station on Cobh so I can get some Euro's?

I don't live there any more (grew up there), so the only one I can think of that's definitely there is outside the AIB bank - about 5 minutes walk along the town and back again. There's definitely 2 machines in the Cork train station. Most train stations these days have ticket machines that take cards.

 

An adult day return Cobh-Cork-Cobh is €8.50 (http://www.irishrail.ie/fares-and-tickets/cork-cobh-midleton) so if you have that much, you could wait and use the machines in Kent (Cork train station).

[VMax1700]

There are no ATM's in Cobh station. As Thoie says there is one outside AIB (Allied Irish Bank) at the start of West Beach. There is also one inside the Bank of Ireland branch office on Westbourne Place. (just the opposite side of the main square to the AIB branch). Banking hours are 10 am to 4 pm Monday to Friday. There is also an ATM in the Centra Supermarket futher down West Beach.

[downundermatt]

Have just been quoted 105E to hire a car near the dock, appreciate the convenience but five times more than the airport price for a seven hour hire has me miffed .....:mad:

Any others have advice or experience ...

(and that E Coach deal is booked out and still has us on a wait list :(

[Di Princess]

How far is Cork from Waterford???

 

How far is Cork from Dublin ???

 

These are my only ports in Ireland. TIA

 

Donna (An Irish Princess)

[Di Princess]

Waterford to Cork is about a 90 minute drive, BUT unless someone is arranging car hire right in Dunmore these days, you'd have to get to Waterford first, then pick up a car or catch a bus from Waterford. You're talking 2-3 hours each way with some faffing about. If I were you, I'd do the Cork trip from Dublin when you're under less pressure. You can get the train from Dublin to Cork in 2 hours, 30 minutes, and the trains are comfortable, with free wifi. Book your train ticket over a week in advance for the best rates on http://www.irishrail.ie

You get to book and reserve a specific seat at the same time. If you really want to face in a particular direction, when they show you the seat map, the left hand side of the train is always pointing to Cork, and the right hand side of your screen always points to Dublin (no matter which leg you're booking).

You want to select Dublin (Heuston) to Cork (Kent) on the website. If you book in advance (pick your tickets up at the train station), a return ticket for an adult is around €40.

 

Sorry, Thoie.

I forgot that I had posted this yesterday - Duh, it's the CruiseHeimers that I get when I need a cruise. Thanks for the information. I had asked my AirBnB Host about how early out I need to book land tours like Dublin to Belfast, etc. and I guess she did not know the answer, nor did she have any advice on Coach, Bus, or Tour Operators from Dublin? What do you recommend? :confused:

[Thoie]

Sorry, Thoie.

I forgot that I had posted this yesterday - Duh, it's the CruiseHeimers that I get when I need a cruise. Thanks for the information. I had asked my AirBnB Host about how early out I need to book land tours like Dublin to Belfast, etc. and I guess she did not know the answer, nor did she have any advice on Coach, Bus, or Tour Operators from Dublin? What do you recommend? :confused:

 

It's late so I'll think further about this in the morning, but I don't really know of anyone who does tours from Dublin to Belfast etc like that. You'd probably be better off taking public transport between cities and grabbing hop on hop off tours when you arrive.

 

Will post more tomorrow.

 

Sent from a mobile device.

[sparky-elpaso]

Thanks for the walking route in Cobh - we plan on just walking around and taking photos. It looks like a very pretty town.

[VMax1700]

Have just been quoted 105E to hire a car near the dock, appreciate the convenience but five times more than the airport price for a seven hour hire has me miffed .....:mad:

Any others have advice or experience ...

(and that E Coach deal is booked out and still has us on a wait list :(

 

In an earlier post you mention your 'ancestral home'. Where exactly are you talking about, then we can see if we can give you more information..... :D

[Thoie]

Thanks for the walking route in Cobh - we plan on just walking around and taking photos. It looks like a very pretty town.

 

Word of warning - I'm not a tour guide, and have no experience in tour guiding (or what other humans may like ;) ). The route was just based on my idea of a nice enough walk that takes in what I consider might be the main highlights for people new to the town, without taking people too far away from the ship.

 

There are some guided walking tours available : http://www.titanic.ie/index.php

I don't know the guy, and haven't done any of the tours, so can't vouch for them, but it is an option.

 

For the photography fans, a few spots for taking photos that you might not spot:

1. From the end of the main pier in town (on your right after you pass the second square), you can see most of the cathedral looming over the town. It's a working pier, so watch out for cars, boat lines, lobster pots and general paraphernalia lying around.

2. If you're following the route I gave, when you get to the bottom of harbour row, instead of going straight ahead immediately, take a quick left, and from about 100 yards down the road you can get some nice pictures of the harbour without electricity cables and cars in your way. The wall isn't very high - don't fall in!

3. May only be of interest to me! When you're facing the front door of the cathedral, go out onto the street and walk up the road up the left hand side of the cathedral. At the back of the cathedral there's a little "extension" off the "second floor" of the church that has it's own little arched bridge onto the road. You can't see this from inside the cathedral, as it links through to the sacristy (behind the altar) area, so it's easy to miss. Because that road goes up, it also gives you an eye-level view of some of the architectural features that you might miss from the ground

[Thoie]

Sorry, Thoie.

I forgot that I had posted this yesterday - Duh, it's the CruiseHeimers that I get when I need a cruise. Thanks for the information. I had asked my AirBnB Host about how early out I need to book land tours like Dublin to Belfast, etc. and I guess she did not know the answer, nor did she have any advice on Coach, Bus, or Tour Operators from Dublin? What do you recommend? :confused:

 

I still can't think of anyone who does guided one day tours to Belfast, etc. The national bus company does two guided tours from Dublin (1 day each) - one to Glendalough/Powerscourt/Wicklow (Glendalough has the ruins of a 6th century monastery), and the other to Newgrange (a burial chamber older than the pyramids or Stonehenge). http://www.buseireann.ie/inner.php?id=351

 

 

Public transport in Ireland is decent enough. Dublin to Belfast, Cork, Limerick, Waterford, Sligo, Westport and Galway are well served by trains, with most trips taking 2-3 hours. The trains are clean, comfortable, and generally have sandwiches/tea/coffee snacks for purchase on board.(http://www.irishrail.ie)

 

There are two main train stations in Dublin - different routes use different ones, so when booking your tickets make sure you note which station you're departing from (Heuston or Connolly). You can catch a tram between the two stations (and to the central bus station as well). My recommendation would be to book your train at least a week in advance (for the lowest fares), and then use the hop-on hop-off buses in Dublin, Cork and Belfast.

[sparky-elpaso]

Word of warning - I'm not a tour guide, and have no experience in tour guiding (or what other humans may like ;) ). The route was just based on my idea of a nice enough walk that takes in what I consider might be the main highlights for people new to the town, without taking people too far away from the ship.

 

There are some guided walking tours available : http://www.titanic.ie/index.php

I don't know the guy, and haven't done any of the tours, so can't vouch for them, but it is an option.

 

For the photography fans, a few spots for taking photos that you might not spot:

1. From the end of the main pier in town (on your right after you pass the second square), you can see most of the cathedral looming over the town. It's a working pier, so watch out for cars, boat lines, lobster pots and general paraphernalia lying around.

2. If you're following the route I gave, when you get to the bottom of harbour row, instead of going straight ahead immediately, take a quick left, and from about 100 yards down the road you can get some nice pictures of the harbour without electricity cables and cars in your way. The wall isn't very high - don't fall in!

3. May only be of interest to me! When you're facing the front door of the cathedral, go out onto the street and walk up the road up the left hand side of the cathedral. At the back of the cathedral there's a little "extension" off the "second floor" of the church that has it's own little arched bridge onto the road. You can't see this from inside the cathedral, as it links through to the sacristy (behind the altar) area, so it's easy to miss. Because that road goes up, it also gives you an eye-level view of some of the architectural features that you might miss from the ground

 

Thanks. I'm a big fan of different types of architecture, etc. so we'll be sure to check out the cathedral. I love the "deck of cards" houses. Similar to the houses in areas of San Francisco.

[downundermatt]

VMAX1700,

My understanding is my ancestors migrated from Cork to Sydney Australia on the 'Golden Era', arrived into Sydney in June 1855 - would be interested to learn more ...:confused:

 

As for Cork I see the ECoach have reopened their tour albeit at a doubled price - and this tour does not even go to Kinshale, probably because we don't arrive til Noon.

 

Given all the great advice on this thread, I think we will attempt it on our own by public transport - the train seems so easy to train into Cork and will attempt Kinshale and Jamesfort, if that's not too ambitious .... otherwise it's back to the rental car option - will give Blarney a miss

 

Is it feasible to do Cobh-Cork (rail) Cork -Kinshale (bus) Kinshale - Cobh (bus) ? We only are docked for 8 hours, and I don't want to spend the whole day stressing over transport and connections otherwise will stick with Cobh and Cork only and save Kinshale for a longer stay ....:)

[Thoie]

 

Is it feasible to do Cobh-Cork (rail) Cork -Kinshale (bus) Kinshale - Cobh (bus) ? We only are docked for 8 hours, and I don't want to spend the whole day stressing over transport and connections otherwise will stick with Cobh and Cork only and save Kinshale for a longer stay ....:)

 

Cobh to Kinsale and back to Cobh, via public transport will take 4 hours (2.5 in one direction, 1.5 in the other). See http://www.journeyplanner.transportforireland.ie where you can type in a start and end point, and it works out public transport options. The reason there's an hour in the difference, is because the Cobh train arrives in Cork only a minute before the bus to Kinsale leaves, and the next bus isn't for an hour.

 

A potential schedule , based on a 9am arrival and a 5pm departure would be to catch the 9:30 train to Cork, spend 2 hours in Cork, catching the (slightly before) midday bus to Kinsale. Arrive Kinsale around 13:00, spend 2 hours there before catching the 15:00 bus back to Cork, going straight from that to the 16:00 train, arriving back in Cobh about 4 minutes before All Aboard at 16:30 for 17:00 departure.

 

It would give you 2 hours in Cork and 2 hours in Kinsale, but there's no wiggle room for anything going wrong (bus/train delays).

 

09:00 Make land 09:30 Train to Cork 10:00 Cork 10:30 Cork 11:00 Cork 11:30 Cork 12:00 Bus to Kinsale 12:30 Bus to Kinsale 13:00 Kinsale 13:30 Kinsale 14:00 Kinsale 14:30 Kinsale 15:00 Bus to Cork 15:30 Bus to Cork 16:00 Train to Cobh 16:30 All aboard 17:00 Depart

 

Another option is to cut your time in Cork to 1 hour (basically the hour waiting between the train and the next bus). You won't really see much. Spend just the 2 hours in Kinsale before heading straight back to Cobh, and that gives you an hour's wiggle room in Cobh to head back to the ship, wander around.

 

09:00 Make land 09:30 Train to Cork 10:00 Cork 10:30 Cork 11:00 Bus to Kinsale 11:30 Bus to Kinsale 12:00 Kinsale 12:30 Kinsale 13:00 Kinsale 13:30 Kinsale 14:00 Bus to Cork 14:30 Bus to Cork 15:00 Train to Cobh 15:30 Cobh 16:00 Cobh 16:30 All aboard 17:00 Depart

[VMax1700]

Thoie, Downundermatt doesn't arrive until Noon, so your timing won't work.

 

First train from Cobh would be 12.22 getting to Kinsale at 3pm. The next train leaves Cobh at 13.22 getting to Kinsale at 4pm.

 

As your ship departs Cobh at 8 pm the only connection back from Kinsale would depart at 16.56 (say 5 pm) getting to Cobh at 6.30pm (the next bus/train combination would not get to Cobh until 8.30pm, so too late for you!).

 

If you managed to get the 12.22 train then you would have 2 hours in Kinsale, you were late docking or a little delayed in disembarking, then the 13.22 train will only allow you 1 hour in Kinsale.

 

As they say.......the choice is yours!

[Mairnealach]

The number 226 bus goes from Cork railway station to Kinsale.

 

http://www.buseireann.ie/pdf/1392394304-226.pdf

 

The journey time is officially given as just under an hour, but a word of warning. I was in Kinsale for three days in January. On my return to Cork railway station, to catch the train to Dublin, the bus was nearly thirty minutes late leaving Kinsale. The bus calls at Cork airport, and the adjacent office park, en-route and delays can occur at these stops.

 

Dermot

[Thoie]

Thoie, Downundermatt doesn't arrive until Noon, so your timing won't work.

 

First train from Cobh would be 12.22 getting to Kinsale at 3pm. The next train leaves Cobh at 13.22 getting to Kinsale at 4pm.

 

As your ship departs Cobh at 8 pm the only connection back from Kinsale would depart at 16.56 (say 5 pm) getting to Cobh at 6.30pm (the next bus/train combination would not get to Cobh until 8.30pm, so too late for you!).

 

If you managed to get the 12.22 train then you would have 2 hours in Kinsale, you were late docking or a little delayed in disembarking, then the 13.22 train will only allow you 1 hour in Kinsale.

 

As they say.......the choice is yours!

 

Missed the midday arrival. Personally I'd skip Kinsale if I had that schedule, but I suppose it depends on how important Kinsale is to maxdownunder

[Di Princess]

Thank you to all my dear cousins in Ireland for this great information and the Links. Hours of fun reading. I did not realize the Titanic connection. I am crazy about all the Titanic history. ;)

 

When you all make it to L.A., I shall gladly be your Guide. I once took the "Hollywood Open-Top Tour Bus" when I was taking a Tour-Director course.

 

Even though I have lived here most of my 77 years on earth, it was a blast, seeing all the gorgeous homes of our Stars. On some of the steep, curving hills in Hollyweird and Bev. Hills, the mini-buses & coaches are not allowed to stop. :eek:

Therefore, the Drivers just drive real slow. :D

[downundermatt]

Thanks all for your tips - with our Noon arrival into Cobh, Kinshale's just not gonna work - now understand why the tour is gonna bypass it.

 

Will simply stick to Cobh and Cork on the train, and the save the rest for a driving trip as a 1/2 day won't do the region any justice

 

And maybe try to dig a bit into my family tree - My ancestors left Cork in 1855 for Australia ....

[Thoie]

 

And maybe try to dig a bit into my family tree - My ancestors left Cork in 1855 for Australia ....

 

That's an awkward date to start tracing from :s Civil records of births/marriages/deaths started in... something like 1864/65

 

Prior to that there were some Church of Ireland (protestant) records (which I'll come to in a minute), but few, if any, Catholic records.

 

A major headache for genealogy (and other things) in Ireland is the fact that the Public Record Office (containing nearly a thousand years of various Irish records) exploded in 1922. And that, folks, is why we don't store ammunition in national archives :rolleyes:

 

The archives in the public record office contained both civil and religious records. If anyone is interested in learning more about it, google four courts fire 1922, and variations.

 

Anyway, your best bet for tracing someone who left in 1855 is if you know what parish/townland they originally came from (narrowing it down to a few miles). If you knew your ancestor had a brother about 10 years younger (and his name), that could be handy too, as you might get lucky and find that the younger brother had married after records started, in which case that would help you find the parents names and townland.

[VMax1700]

downundermatt - I feel your disappointment! Have you tried researching your ancestors? http://www.irishgenealogy.ie/en/

 

Di Princess - The Cobh Titanic Experience is nice, but small. The Belfast Titanic Experience is much, much larger. You could easily spend 4 or 5 hours in the Belfast one if you are at all interested in the Titanic. In fact I feel that the Titanic Experience alone would make the trip to Belfast worthwhile.

[VMax1700]

Di Princess - The Belfast Titanic Experience is very close to the Central Station, maximum £10 taxi fare. If you feel like an overnight then there is a Hilton close to both the train station and the Titanic Experience. Taxi drivers have no problem with the short trip as its a good steady income for them.

 

If you are going to the Belfast Experience, you should pre-book admission tickets as it is a major attraction and during school year is a major venue for school trips.

[Di Princess]

Thanks, VMAX. I plan on seeing both Titanic Museums. I spent 2 hours in the one in Las Vegas at the Luxor Hotel. It was excellent and got me excited about seeing more. I know they are all over the world but probably the best in Ireland.

Donna (An Irish Princess) ;)

[Thoie]

Just happened to spot this on Google+ earlier, in the Ireland circle. Someone has put up some photos from Cobh from some of the spots I was talking about.

 

Here's one of the cathedral from the gate of the Bishop's Palace:

 

[DOJO466]

I was wondering about the Cobh Road Train, a 45 minute ride around Cobh for 8 Euro. My DH is mobility impaired (at selective times lol) and I thought this might be a quick way to at east see the sights from afar. What do you think?