Ireland's No. 1 FREE magazines for parents & teachers of primary school children
Ireland's No. 1 FREE magazines for parents & teachers of primary school children
EMIGRATION, FAMINE & MARITIME HISTORY MULTIMEDIA EXHIBITION
COBH'S MARITIME HISTORY
The Titanic and the Lusitania are just two of the many liners and ships which visited the historic port town of Cobh. Cobh Heritage Centre traces the evolution of maritime traffic to and from Cobh beginning with depiction's of the early coffin ships to the latter day luxurious transatlantic liners.
The Port of Cork annually attracts approximately 30 liners bringing close to an additional 30,000 visitors to Cobh and it's environs. The Deepwater Quay beside the Cobh Heritage Centre is the berthing dock for these luxury liners. It was also the departure point for millions of emigrants
EMIGRATION & FAMINE
From 1848 - 1950 over 6 million adults and children emigrated from Ireland - over 2.5 million departed from Cobh, making it the single most important port of emigration.
This exodus from Ireland was largely as a result of poverty, crop failures, the land system and a lack of opportunity. Irish emigration reached unprecedented proportions during the famine as people fled from hunger and disease.
Many famine emigrants went initially to British North America (now Canada) because of fare structures and government regulations, but the majority subsequently settled in the United States. The famine resulted as a consequence of widespread potato crop failure. Failure of the crop was not unusual in Ireland so the partial failures in 1845 did not cause particular concern. In 1846 the potato crop failed completely and in the years 1847-1849 there was either total or partial crop failure of whatever potato crop could be planted. Escape was seen by many as the only chance for survival : between 1845 and 1851 over 1,500,000 people emigrated from Ireland This was more than had left the country in the previous half century..
ANNIE MOORE
Located outside the Cobh Heritage Centre is the statue of Annie Moore and her two brothers.
Annie Moore became the first ever emigrant to be processed in Ellis Island when it officially opened on 1st January 1892. Annie and her brothers sailed from Queenstown on the SS Nevada on the 20th December and arrived after 12 days of travelling in steerage. The statue outside Cobh Heritage Centre was unveiled by President Mary Robinson on the 9th February 1993. A similar statue of Annie can be found in Ellis Island, New York which represents not only the honour of her being the first emigrant to pass through Ellis Island but also stands as a symbol of the many Irish who have embarked on that very same journey.
THE TITANIC
On the 11th April 1912 the newly built Titanic called to the port of Queenstown (now known as Cobh) on her maiden voyage. Titanic had set out from Southampton and called to Cherbourg before continuing onto Queenstown.
The pride of the White Star Line arrived at Roches Point (the outer anchorage of Queenstown Harbour) at 11.30am. Meanwhile the intending passengers went to the White Star Line pier to board the tenders PS Ireland and PS America which would ferry them to the waiting liner. A total of 123 passengers embarked at Queenstown, three travelled first class, seven second class while the remainder travelled in steerage (3rd class). After boarding the tenders they proceeded to the Deepwater Quay (where Cobh Heritage Centre is now located) to load mail bags from the mail train. The two tenders then travelled out to the Titanic along with a number of smaller vessels carrying local vendors selling local specialities such as lace and crafts to the wealthy passengers onboard.
At 1.30pm an exchange of whistles indicated that the tenders' business was complete and the Titanic weighed anchor to the strains of "Erin's Lament" and "A Nation Once Again" played on the bagpipes by steerage passenger Eugene Daly. A total of 1,308 passengers were on board as they left Queenstown together with 898 crew members making a total of 2,206 people on board as she embarked on her final journey.
THE LUSITANIA
On May 7th 1915 the Cunard liner Lusitania was en route from New York to Liverpool, having maintained her Atlantic passage service despite the outbreak of war. The liner, with 1959 people on board, was about 16KM (10miles) off the Old Head of Kinsale and travelling at 18 knots when she was struck by torpedo from a German submarine U20. Once damaged, the Lusitania quickly listed to one side, making it difficult to launch lifeboats.
The Lusitania sank in just 91m (300 ft) of water. A flotilla of rescue boats were launched and 761 people were saved. The majority of the 1,198 passengers who lost their lives were never recovered. The survivors were ferried to Queenstown and were accommodated in local hospitals, lodging houses and private homes. Nearly three days after the sinking of the Lusitania 150 of her victims were buried in mass graves in the Old Church cemetery, 1 mile north of Queenstown. 80 of them were never identified.
