Kinsale & Old Head · Ireland · Wreck
City of Chicago
Broken-up 1892 liner with swim-throughs under the Old Head cliffs
Photo: James Emmans · CC BY-SA 2.0
The City of Chicago was a liner that hit rocks in heavy fog on the western side of the Old Head of Kinsale on 22 June 1892. Her remains now make a wreck dive that suits divers of all experience levels, reached by day boat from Kinsale harbour.
Also known as The Chicago, Chicago.
Where it is and how deep
51.6086° N, 8.5448° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The remains of the ship lie close to the shore at the entrance to a small cave on the western side of the Old Head, spread from 5 m in the shallows down to 20 m. She is well broken up, with some very fine swim-throughs in wreckage now covered in marine life, and the boiler engine and prop shaft can still be seen. Golf balls hit from the Old Head Golf Course can be collected aplenty on the dive.
The wreck
- Vessel
- City of Chicago
- Type
- Liner
- Sunk
- 1892
- Cause
- Ran aground in heavy fog on the rocks at Ringagurteen Point, Old Head of Kinsale
- Lies
- Well broken up on the western side of the Old Head of Kinsale, between 5 and 20 m
The City of Chicago was on route from New York to Liverpool via Queenstown, now Cobh, when, crossing Courtmacsherry Bay much further north than her captain knew, she ran aground in heavy fog on the rocks at Ringagurteen Point on the Old Head of Kinsale on 22 June 1892. There was no loss of life: everyone on board made it up the rocky cliff face to safety.
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair |
Season follows Kinsale & Old Head: Spring and summer bring the migrants, the egg-guarding lumpsuckers and the hydroid bloom; the sea is coldest in January.
Dive videos
Scuba - The wreck of the City of Chicago · Jon Mathers (ChilledCorky54) on YouTube
Sources
- Scuba Diving Sites Kinsale — OceanAddicts
- The Chicago dive site — ScubaGo
Photo credits
- Looking down from a grassy clifftop onto jagged rock ridges and white surf in clear blue-green water. by James Emmans, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
More dive sites in Kinsale & Old Head
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Anglerfish and egg-guarding lumpsuckers on reef inside the Old Head
Pinnacle
Offshore rocks topping out at 22 m, named for their plentiful ling
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Sheltered cove that deepens to about 12 m at high tide
Sand slope
Sheltered sandy training bay with sand eels, shelving away from the slip
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Dutch trawler wreck to potter around under the Big Sovereign
Reef
Two big rocks near shore with a swim-through grotto lined in jewel anemones
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