GLENBROOK PIER AND NEARBY

This was my first time to photograph the Passage West area of Cork and almost everything went wrong. Because of Covid-19 travel restrictions the bus service was limited and to a much greater extent than I had been advised. The bus on the outward journey terminated early for some reason or other and initially I did not know where exactly I was and I could not get my iPhone to connect to any network.

When I returned to the hotel and examined my logs I discovered that I had walked from Passage West Pharmacy to Cross River Ferries and back to the bus stop at Carrigmahon Hill. I waited for close to an hour for a bus to appear and it broke down on arriving at the stop.

Glenbrook was originally a seaside resort with buildings like the Turkish Bath-houses which became established there. The first of these was the Royal Victoria Monkstown and Passage Baths, which opened in 1838. This was followed by Dr Timothy Curtin’s Hydropathic Establishment. Passage West, which also has a maritime tradition, is next to Glenbrook and the two are somewhat indistinguishable as there is no obvious border between the two.

It is from here that Captain Roberts set out and crossed the Atlantic in the first passenger steamship, “The Sirius”. A plaque, along with a piece of the ship, commemorates this journey and is sited next to the Cross River Ferry in Glenbrook. The old railway line, once a method of transport ferrying customers to the summer resort town and the Turkish baths, is now a walking trail next to Cork Harbour.