The Town that Changed its Name Three Times
By Gerardine McCrohan
1 Cobh is a beautiful seaside port in County Cork, Ireland. These days, it is famous for its scenic location, beautiful cathedral, and colorful buildings, but it has not always been like this. Cobh started out as a small fishing village similar to many others found along the Irish coast. There was nothing special about it. However, all this started to change in the 1700s. At this time it was called "Cove" and was sometimes know as "the Cove of Cork." Many new businesses were built, more people moved to Cove, and in 1720 the first yacht club in the world, The Royal Cork Yacht club, was founded there.
2 Cove was still not well-know, but in the early 1800s Britain was engaged in the Napoleonic Wars, and the town was transformed into a British naval port. It even got its own admiral, and many of the present day buildings were built.
3 The "age of steam" brought much fame to Cove. In 1821 the first steam ship to sail from Ireland to England left from Cove, and the first steam ship to cross the Atlantic, the Sirius, also sailed from Cove in 1838. 1849 was a very important year for Cove because in that year Queen Victoria visited Cove, and the name of the town was changed to Queenstown to honor her.
