Panorama of Queenstown Harbour (1902)

It's not easy to view these beguiling scenic shots without burdening them with our knowledge of history. The pivotal site of Irish emigration, Queenstown witnessed countless departures (like that of the liner glimpsed here), each touched by excitement, apprehension and, all too often, tragedy. Previously Cove, it was later renamed Cobh by a newly independent state purging itself of Britishness.