Cobh

Town and port in County Cork, Republic of Ireland, 24 km/15 mi southeast of the city of Cork; population (2002) 6,800. The town is built on a series of terraces overlooking the harbour, and is dominated by St Colman's Cathedral, built 1868-1918, a blue granite structure. Cobh was the departure point for many emigrants to the USA during the 19th century and the heritage centre on the quayside has a permanent exhibition on the Irish diaspora.

Cobh has a number of fine Georgian and 19th-century residential houses. The cathedral has a carillon (a set of bells played on a keyboard) of 42 bells - the largest in Ireland and the UK; and Cobh's Royal Yacht Club, founded in 1720, is the oldest in the world.

A memorial to the victims of the ocean liner Lusitania, which was sunk by a German submarine off the Irish coast on 7 May 1915, stands on the quay. It was designed by Jerome Connor, and completed after his death by Donal Murphy. Near Cobh is the Fota Estate, now owned by University College Cork and developed as a wildlife park and arboretum. Adjacent is a large private golf course. Spike Island, a former prison, is now an army coastal defence station.

Cobh was known as Queenstown in commemoration of a visit by Queen Victoria.