This place is so rundown that they should not be open anymore. The four of us paid over $40 to…read morebasically walk up an unsafe, unkept, dilapidated, spider web- strewn spiral staircase. At one point, the railing was stuck on with red tape and what looked like gum. They need to either expand the budget or shut this down.

Great place to see an old castle but also if you're a science nerd. The new planetarium they…read moreinstalled was a great feature full of information about the stars and planets

We loved this place a little too much. I thought this would be a short visit, but we ended up…read morespending the entire day there. This place is highly recommended while in Cork. If you are of Irish descent, you will love this place. If you are interesting in the history of Irish emigrants, like me, you will even love it. They also have a very extensive and informative Titanic exhibit. Simply wow!!!

Housed in the former Victorian Railway Stations main hall, (a single line to Cork still adjoins the…read moremain building). The heritage centre, complete with it's own genealogy centre, tells the story of the estimated 2.5 million people that left these shores from this very spot forever. Although this itself is roughly a third of the number that left all Ireland in a century of emigration that really began with the 1846 famine, Cobh was to be the single most important port of departure. Cobh is literally pronounced cove, and is indeed the cove of nearby Cork, although it was named Queenstown from 1849, until the time when it's original name was revived in 1922. The Queenstown story is very well presented, I liked the recreation of life on board a ship from steerage bunks to upper decks, and clearly an awful lot of thought & imagination has gone into creating an environment that will appeal to everyone from easily distracted children through to American tourists, although some might say there is no disparity between the two! For transatlantic liners, departing English ports like Liverpool or Southampton, Cobh was always the last port of call before heading west. Many familiar large ships would have anchored just a couple of miles offshore, with smaller tender vessels ferrying passengers to & from the quayside here. The most famous of all of them of course was RMS Titanic. At 1.30pm on Thursday 11th April 1912 Titanic sailed after a 2 hour visit to take on just 123 passengers to bring her total complement up to 2206, 1517 of which were to drown with the ship 3 days later. There is a famous photograph taken by a Father Frank Browne, one of 7 passengers to have disembarked from the ship here, that frames this small exhibition, the last image of a legendary ship. However I was left wanting more here than the exhibition could ever provide. The museum is much better about another ill fated 4-funneled liner, RMS Lusitania. The Lucy as she was nick-named was torpedoed in 1915, just up the coast from here of Kinsale, with a loss of life almost on the same scale, (a small number of the victims were buried in the nearby cemetery). One of my favourite exhibits was the old phone kiosk of the period, where by picking up the receiver you can listen to tape recordings of both witnesses to the tragedy & survivors. Also because there are personal belongings on show recovered from the wreck, these prove to be a more persuasive reminder of human tragedy than the Titanic exhibit with only it's words & photos. If you're interested in the Lusitania, seek out my review of nearby Kinsale Tourist Office as well. Overall this is a very impressive experience, particularly thought provoking on the 19th century mass exodus from Ireland. It will easily absorb you for an hour or two's visit, if not there's an extremely well stocked gift shop & coffee & snack bar! However it's only when you're outside, gazing out beyond the statue of Ellis Island Annie & her brothers, far out to sea, & recall those millions whose last sight of their homeland this was, that you begin to get a true sense of perspective on the place.

Allen was our bartender, and he is very kind and welcoming. Most Irish folks are! He is pictured…read morehere's We happened in about 1 o'clock their time and they were already a handful of patients experiencing this wonderful place. They even had tequila, which is my fave. He brought us over a bag of chips(crisps) just for the heck of it! When it comes to the real deal in Irish pubs, this is it! It is typical wood environment and I am sure could get quite loud when busy. Don't expect luxury just a real experience.

Wonderful atmosphere, fantastic people, nice interior and epic Irish coffee:) The place I would…read morelove to visit again.

Relatively new to Cork, Movie Junction opened in late 2010, and has recently added a second screen…read moreto their drive-in cinema experiment. I hope they go from strength to strength. Our visit showed that despite some rough edges, there is definitely an audience for drive-in cinemas in Ireland. It's a very different cinema going experience, with a few pros and a few cons too. First off, it's a lot cheaper than the average cinema trip. €25 got us a couple's ticket, two drinks, two popcorn and some sweets. You can also have pizza delivered to your car from the nearby Four Star Pizza. They deliver in thirty minutes, and the ushers drop your delivery to your car. Also, since we recently got a pet dog, our little mutt was able to snooze in our laps while we watched the movie. The movies sound is transmitted to your car's radio (they give you the frequency when you go in). This is a little problematic, for the first few minutes of our showing, we could only barely hear the film. Overall, it can't quite match the experience of a well equipped auditorium, but don't write it off. All in all, this was a different type of cinema experience, one that we'll definitely be trying again soon!

I have gone to The Movie Junction a few time now and I've loved it everytime. Be it going with…read morefriends or my partner I've enjoyed it everytime. It is such a novality to be able to order food/pizzas by the flick of your indicators haha. Great experience and I'll definetly be going again.

This was a really well done experience. I thought it would be just a museum or a movie or talk or…read moresomething but they did their best to put us in the shoes of those who got on the ill-fated voyage from Cobh. I left saddened but with a greater understanding of what happened. I recommend.

I thought this was a really interesting experience. Hearing real stories really brought the…read moreexperience to life.

SIRIUS ART CENTRE Just made it to Cobh's Sirius Art Gallery,…read morenext door to the Quays Bar/Restaurant, in time to see the Wilson Collection, comprised of photographs taken by three generations of the Cobh family. The exhibition features famous faces from times past and present and the photos were taken by Robert, Joe and Jasper Wilson. The exhibition closed on August 1st but you may get updates on the Wilson Collection at http://www.thewilsoncollection.com Many of the shots feature people and ships that visited Cobh from the 30s up to the present time. Enjoyed my viewing, particularly the photo of ex US president Dwight Eisenhower from 1962. I had seen Ike and wife Mimi in the railway station in Cork City that day on his way to Cobh and not many people believe me! The Sirius (named after a famous trans-Atlantic steam ship) is well worth a visit, not least because the Cobh Tourist Office is housed there. It is a very fine building and you will really enjoy looking out over the harbour through its really beautiful windows which in turn help fill the rooms of the gallery with light. A new exhibition of paintings and prints by Gerard Cox, entitled Undercurrents', get underway in the Sirius this coming Thursday. Contacts: Tel: 021 4813790 Email: cobharts@iol.ie Web: http://www.siriusartscentre.ie

If you've just wandered off the train from Cork or have disembarked from a massive cruise ship at…read morethe little dock, you may enjoy a walk up to the high street and a visit to the Cobh Museum. It's up the stone steps just across the street from the train station. I serve on a Museum Board of Directors, and my wife is the director of a small-town museum so I am both interested in and critical of small museums. The Cobh Museum is doing a lot of things right-- they have several climate-controlled exhibit cases, they have a number of rare and interesting documents on display, and their re-use of the Scots Church is good for the old edifice. New, adaptive uses of old buildings often saves them from the wrecking ball. However, there are some other things to consider; it is somewhat expensive to walk into this old church/museum (10 Euro for a family), and most of the exhibit material relates to the loss of the Lusitania (torpedoed by a German U-Boat on 7 May 1915). So if you are kind of tired of shipwrecks and shipping disasters, you may not truly enjoy this museum. The architecture of the old church is handsome, the staff is knowledgeable and helpful, and many bits and pieces of quite a few exhibits are interesting. But the overall presentation is one of local history and local shipwrecks.