1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Queenstown (Ireland)

QUEENSTOWN, (formerly Cove of Cork), a seaport, watering-place, and naval station of county Cork, Ireland, picturesquely situated on the south side of Great Island, on the slope of an eminence rising abruptly above Cork Harbour. Pop. (1901) 7909. It is 12 m. E.S.E. of Cork and 177 m. S.W. of Dublin by the Great Southern & Western railway. It consists chiefly of terraces rising one above another with wide streets and handsome houses. On account of the mildness of the climate it is frequented by visitors both in summer and winter. Previous to the American War, Cove of Cork was a small fishing village, but it subsequently increased rapidly. It received its present name on the occasion of the visit in 1849 of Queen Victoria, being her first landing-place in Ireland. The town is governed by an urban district council. The harbour, which is defended by the Carlisle and Camden Forts at its entrance, and by Fort Westmoreland on Spike Island, can shelter a large fleet. Spike, Rocky andl Haulbowline islands are used in the formation of a government dockyard, which with the adjoining victualling yard covers an area of 55 acres. There is an enclosed basin 9 acres in extent, with 32 ft. 8 in. depth over the sill at high-water spring tides; and a dry dock at its southern end has a length of 408 ft. on the blocks. Queenstown is a port of call for American mail steamers, and the mails are transmitted overland by express trains; it is also a port of embarkation for colonial troops, and a government emigration station. The admiral's flagship is stationed here. The oldest yacht club in the United Kingdom, the Royal Cork (founded in 1720 as the Cork Harbour Water Club), has its headquarters here, with a club-house, and holds an annual regatta. Among the principal buildings are the modern Catholic cathedral of St Colman for the diocese of Cloyne, designed by A. W. Pugin, and the Protestant Episcopal church for the united parishes of Clonmcl and Temple Robin. A fine promenade, over a mile in length, connects Queenstown with Rushbrook, a favourite watering-place. The picturesque shores of the harbour are dotted with country residences and village-resorts, suoh as Crosshaven and Church Bay.