Cobh Port, Ireland-1 of 4 Walk to Market

CORK- "Céad Míle Fáilte," which literally translates to "a hundred thousand welcomes” was the greeting we received from our guide Valerie when we began our walking tour of Cork.

According to legend, one of the first colonists of Ireland was Neimheidh who landed in Cork Harbor over 1,000 years BC. He and his followers were said to have been wiped out in a plague, but the Great Island was known in Irish as Oilean Ard Neimheadh because of its association with him. There is a statue on the waterfront of Annie Moore and her brothers. She was the first person to be admitted to the US through the new immigration center at Ellis Island NY in 1892. The image is meant to represent the millions who passed through Ellis Island in pursuit of the American dream.

We began at the riverfront of Cobh (cove) before going into the city of Cork. It is also known as Queenstown from when Queen Victoria visited. We walked the streets viewing the steeples, bridges and quays. We walked North Main and Castle streets to get a feel for the city and its people. This city has “Old World charm” with the City Center on an island between two channels of the Lee River. Cork City boasts a network of bridges to connect different parts of the city, facilitate transportation, and contribute to the city's unique character. We saw City Hall, Old Courthouse, and the triple spired St Fin Barres Cathedral where we had a tour.

We had a fun visit to the 400-year old English Market where they are selling meat, various food, fruit, cheese, breads and chocolate (yes we did buy). Queen Elizabeth II visited the market as part of her state visit to Ireland and interacted with 8 of the traders there including fish monger Pat O’Connell, who calls monk fish mother-in-law fish. The visit, along with the presence of Prince Philip, boosted the market's profile, attracting more visitors and solidifying its reputation.

Marie Elmes was an Irish aid worker from Cork credited with saving the lives of at least 200 Jewish children at various times during the Holocaust, by hiding them in the back of her car. She is the only Irish person honored as Righteous Among the Nations by the State of Israel.

Interestingly, the "Cork Jewish Quarter" (Jewtown) refers to the area in Cork city where the Jewish community historically resided and maintained a presence. The first Jewish Lord Mayor of Cork was Gerald Goldberg, who served in 1977. He was also the first member of the Jewish faith to be elected as First Citizen in Cork. Gerald Goldberg was born in Cork in 1912 to Lithuanian Jewish immigrants.

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