We stepped off into Cobh (pronounced "Cove") and the colorful houses rise straight up the hill like a child's drawing. This harbor has watched fourteen centuries of Irish history unfold – from St. Finbar's 6th century monastic settlement that first put Cork on the map, to the Viking longships that arrived between 915 and 922 AD under the warrior Ottir Iarla. The Norse traders who settled here left more than stories – family names like Cotter and Coppinger still echo their presence. They called Cork the "Rebel County" even then, because the Irish here resisted the invaders with fierce determination.

St. Colman's Cathedral dominates the skyline – we climbed the hill and the carillon bells rang out over the harbor exactly where the Titanic anchored in 1912. The Titanic Experience in the original White Star Line offices made us cry – actual passenger names, recovered luggage, the last photograph of the ship leaving here. Cork was once the capital of the Kingdom of Desmond, ruled by the McCarthy clan who built Blarney Castle just north of the city. The first wooden fortress went up in the 10th century, replaced by stone in 1210, then rebuilt in its current magnificent form in 1446 by Dermot McCarthy. The famous Blarney Stone legend comes from 1602, when Cormac Teige MacCarthy so eloquently evaded surrendering his castle to Queen Elizabeth I that she declared, "This is all blarney; what he says he never means." Kiss that stone today and they say you'll gain "sweet persuasive, wheedling eloquence" – the Irish gift of gab made literal.

We took the train to Cork city (25 minutes, Ireland's second largest city and third on the island) for the English Market – created in 1788 by the Protestant corporation, it's been the beating heart of Cork commerce for two and a half centuries. The stalls overflow with drisheen, crubeens, and butter so yellow it glows. We had lunch at the Farmgate Café above the market – Irish stew with proper soda bread and a pint of Murphy's that tastes like home even if it isn't. St. Finn Barr's Cathedral rises as a grand Victorian Church of Ireland building, honoring that 6th century saint who started it all. The pros: genuine Irish soul without the Dublin crowds, fourteen centuries of living history in every cobblestone. The cons: steep hills everywhere, but the views pay you back tenfold.