Cobh, old Queenstown, has a sad aura of tragedy

A visit to Cobh is sometimes a somber one, especially when it’s raining lightly on the old graveyard on the north side of town. This is where more than 150 victims of the attack on the “Lusitania” are buried in three mass graves. We visited the cemetery on our way to the Cobh / Queenstown Heritage Center, located in the 19th century train station.

Nearby stands the rotting remains of the old White Star Line pier, where the final passengers to board the liner stepped aboard tenders on the 11th of April, 1914. Just down the road is the office where many of the more than 1 million emigrants said their final good-bye to Ireland as they sailed for North America.