
The Irish seaside town three hours from Dublin with superb playground, fantastic harbour, self-drive boats and RIB tours
Cobh is a charming seaside town nestled along the south coast in
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Cobh is a stunning seaside town located in Co Cork
Credit: Cobh Tourism
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This stunning spot has everything you need for a staycation this summer
Credit: Cobh Tourism
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Visitors can go on boat tours, visit nearby islands or spot iconic landmarks
Credit: Cobh Tourism
Situated about 20 minutes from
Home to around 13,000 residents, the seaside town is known for its rich history, colourful streets and breathtaking views over Cork Harbour.
Cobh is built on a steep hillside that rises from the harbour's edge, and its deep waters make it popular with RIB tours and cruise ships - and there's even self-
What's more, this harbour is one of the largest natural harbours in the world.
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And this stunning seaside town is home to a fantastic playground - Clos Sugartha An Cobh.
The spot has lots of amenities for
Located by the waterfront near the Port of Cobh, the playground is the perfect spot to take in breathtaking views of the sea and passing boats.
And Cobh's Tourism board said the town is becoming a favourite destination for multigenerational getaways.
Most read in News Travel
They recommend that visitors start their trip off by stopping at the
Overlooking the very pier where passengers boarded the ship, the experience is one that is engaging for all ages.
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And just a short walk away, the Cobh Heritage Centre tells the story of Irish emigration in vivid detail.
Housed in a restored Victorian railway station, it features exhibits on the Titanic and Lusitania and Annie Moore — with interactive quizzes and a colouring zone for children.
For
The Marlogue Woods and the Harbour Walk has some of the town's most popular paths, both offer breathtaking views.
Stretching from the promenade to the Titanic Memorial Garden, this stunning route goes by lots of key landmarks of the town - including St Colman's Cathedral.
Visitors can also hop on a short ferry to Spike Island - a former prison that now welcomes visitors with guided tours and exhibitions that showcase its fascinating history.
A TOWN STEEPED IN HISTORY
Beyond its coastal beauty, Cobh is a town steeped in
The town's story can be seen in its many heritage sites, along with local walking tours such as the Titanic Trail or the Cobh Rebel Walking Tour.
For extended stays, Cobh offers a range of accommodation, including The Commodore Hotel, Bella Vista and the WatersEdge Hotel.
Nearby attractions such as Fota Wildlife Park, Fota House and Gardens, and Barryscourt Castle are also must-visits when in the town.
Don't miss out on your chance to visit this summer.
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The town is home to one of the world's largest harbours
Credit: Cobh Tourism
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It features fantastic walking tours
Credit: Cobh Tourism

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From RTÉ Lyric FM's Naturefile, a look at the bilberry, one of the richest natural sources of anthocyanins For those in need of some extra cash, a good berry season was welcomed in rural areas where a network of pickers, buyers and sellers supported an important export industry in sending bilberries (and blackberries) to Britain in the first half of the 20th century. This export trade boomed during the two world wars and the story of bilberries in this industry is detailed comprehensively by Michael Conry in his 2011 publication, Picking Bilberries, Fraocháns and Whorts in Ireland: The Human Story. For an urban readership, the bilberry may have been simply a curiosity unlike the ubiquitous blackberry, that remained a feature of city and town life and was connected to memories of childhood and family expeditions of collecting berries in the wild. But in rural areas, the bilberry remained an important feature of the celebrations of the harvest and its presence in the activities, games, craft skills, festive food, and entertainments associated with the festival of Lughnasa. This important calendar marker between the last Sunday in July and the first Sunday in August was of practical, community, symbolic, and ritualistic significance to traditional agricultural societies. Its status is best illustrated in the numerous names of the festival that survived into the twentieth century: Harvest Sunday; Lammas Sunday; Bilberry Sunday; Mountain Sunday; Patron Sunday; Garland Sunday; Domhnach Chrom Dubh; Domhnach Fada; Domhnach na bhFraochóg. In fact, folklorist Máire MacNeill identified over 80 different local names for the festival in her seminal and sparkling 1962 publication, The Festival of Lughnasa: A Study of the Survival of the Celtic Festival of the Beginning of the Harvest. From RTÉ Archives, Dermot Mullane reports for RTÉ News on Garland Sunday ceremonies at the holy well and mass rock of Tobernalt, Co Sligo in 1975 As with the other three Celtic-survival calendar festivals, Lughnasa was a focal point between seasons and a transition time between a change-over in agricultural work. The summer's fertility and the summer farm work around food production, particularly in terms of grain and potato cultivation, were about to be realised as summer transitioned into autumn. MacNeill's scholarship identified surviving features that may have been transmitted from antiquity into 20th century Ireland. A sizeable part of her research concentrated on the responses gathered from a questionnaire which was sent out in Irish and English to correspondents of the Irish Folklore Commission in July 1942. The questionnaire, titled 'Domhnach Chrom Dubh', received 316 replies and these provided rich substantive detail in elucidating the main surviving features of the festival. In terms of agriculture and food production, it was the beginning of the harvest and the start of the potato-digging season. It was also a time of weather and crop fertility omens. From a community perspective, it was a time of group visits and gatherings to mountain or hill-tops or to lake and river shores with celebratory dancing, music and singing and courtship rituals. The understanding was that bilberries and potatoes bridged the temporal movement from one season to another By the time MacNeill was undertaking her research, elements of older practice were fading. She concludes that 'no custom has been more lasting than the picking of bilberries which… gave the festival several names' and they were 'an earnest of the earth's fruitfulness, a bounty of the deity. And it was important that all should eat them and that some should be brought home to the old and weak who could not climb the hill.' 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