Ardcath remembers Leinster victim Christopher Domegan
A small group gathered in Ardcath cemetery recently to pay tribute to Flying Officer Christopher Domegan, who drowned in the sinking of the Leinster ship one hundred years ago last week.
Christopher Domegan’s family were originally from Ardcath but his parents had moved to Dublin and Christopher was reared in
King Street, Dublin. His mother ran a boarding house and his father was a tram-driver.
A bright boy, Christopher was commissioned into the Royal Irish Fusiliers where he served as a 2nd Lieutenant. He then transferred into the Royal Flying Corps. By 1918, he was an experienced soldier and a Lieutenant in The Royal Air Force. On the tenth of October 1918, after being home for a short leave, Christy Domegan joined hundreds of military personnel making their way to Britain on the RMS Leinster.
The RMS Leinster served as the Kingstown-Holyhead mail boat and was owned by the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company. The ship set out from Dun Laoghaire at about nine o’clock in the morning for the short crossing to Holyhead with 771 people aboard, 77 crew, 180 civilians, 22 postal sorters and around 500 military personnel. Although the weather was fine the sea was quite rough. Shortly before 10 a.m., about sixteen miles out to sea, the ship was attacked by a submarine just four miles east of the Kish lighthouse.
The first torpedo narrowly missed the ship but the second struck the ship on the port side where the postal sorting office was situated. The torpedo travelled onwards across the ship blowing a hole in the other side also. Most of the unfortunate postal workers, who were busy sorting the mail, perished in this explosion.
The ship, commanded by Captain William Birch, immediately turned and began to limp back towards Dun Laoghaire sinking slowly as it went. Lifeboats were in the process of being launched when another torpedo struck the ship on its starboard side.
This effectively blew the ship to pieces and it sank almost immediately. Many died at this time. Others who were already in lifeboats struggled in the rough seas and many died in the water while waiting to be rescued by the ships dispatched from Dun Laoghaire. Christopher Domegan, aged 22, was among the 565 people who perished in this shipping disaster.
Christy Domegan’s remains were buried in Ardcath cemetery and today a large Celtic cross there commemorates his short life.
On the day, members of the local Ardcath and Bellewstown heritage groups and neighbours of the Domegan family came together to commemorate this local hero who died so tragically one hundred years ago.
Frances Lee Gargan spoke about what was known of the Domegan family in the Ardcath area. Fiona Ahern, co-author of Bellewstown’s Forgotten Heroes, described the sinking of the Leinster mail ship and prayers were read by members of the heritage groups led by Fr Brendan Ferris, P.P. A poppy wreath was placed on the grave by Paul Black of Bellewstown, whose father and uncle both fought in World War One.