Two centenary events mark ship disasters
RMS Leinster and SS Dundalk both sunk in submarine attacks
TWO major wartime tragedies in the Irish Sea will be marked with centenary ceremonies in the coming days.
This Wednesday, the sinking of the RMS Leinster, with the loss of 560 lives in a German submarine attack, will be commemorated in Dun Laoghaire.
Next Sunday, the sinking of the SS Dundalk, with the loss of 20 lives in another German attack, will be commemorated in Dundalk.
Although both ships were sent to the bottom of the Irish Sea 100 years ago, the loss of so many lives still resonates in the seaside towns to this day.
“The Leinster disaster was the greatest-ever loss of life in the Irish Sea,” said author Philip Lecane, who has written two books on the tragedy.
Lecane’s latest book Women and Children of the RMS Leinster: Restored to History, recounting poignant stories of several families whose lives were devastated by the sinking, will be launched in the Lexicon Library in Dun Laoghaire tomorrow afternoon.
The ship carried 771 people on board as it left Dun Laoghaire harbour (then Kingstown) bound for Holyhead on October 10, 1918. It was struck by two torpedoes — fired by a German submarine — which lay in wait two miles off the Irish coast.
The loss of so many men, women and children shocked the nation.
It is believed the ship may have been targeted by the Germans, because a considerable number of soldiers were on board travelling back to their wartime units.
The youngest person in military uniform who died was Thomas Woodgate from Callan, Co Kilkenny. He was just 14 years old and he was returning to an RAF ground unit in Britain. It is believed he pretended he was 18 when he joined up.
On Wednesday, an ecumenical service to mark the centenary of the tragedy will be held in St Michael’s Church at 9.30am.
It will be followed by a ticket-only State commemoration outside the Lexicon library on the seafront. Songs, poems, and prayers will be recited among the speeches recalling the ship’s final doomed voyage.
Hundreds of people, many who have travelled from countries around the world, will attend the event. That night the Pavilion Theatre will stage Fatal Voyage, telling the story of the sinking as recounted in Lecane’s book Torpedoed! The RMS Leinster Disaster.
An all-day seminar on the sinking will take place in the National Maritime Museum in the town on Tuesday.
The National Maritime Museum has free entry all week, a touchscreen giving information on everyone aboard the RMS Leinster, and a help desk.
An Post planned the issue of a centenary stamp and has published Stephen Ferguson’s book Sorting Letters on the Sea telling the story of the Irish Sea mail service.
RMS Leinster: The Forgotten Tragedy by Carmel Ui Cheallaigh — the first-ever children’s book on the sinking — was recently published.
Centenary events marking the sinking are also taking place in Ennis, Holyhead, Isle of Man, Southampton, Doncaster, Nottingham and Florida. The RMS Leinster was one of four City of Dublin Steam Packet Company ships, which carried passengers and mail between Dun Laoghaire and Holyhead.
Each ship had an on-board post office, where mail was sorted by Dublin Post Office staff. The mail contract required the ships to sail regardless of weather conditions and — during World War I — prowling submarines.
On October 10, 1918, a German submarine UB-123 fired three torpedoes at the RMS Leinster near the Kish Bank. The first torpedo missed.
The other two sank the ship. Twenty-one of the 22 postal sorters aboard were lost, as were half of the ship’s crew and civilians from Ireland and Britain.
But the majority of casualties that day were military personnel from Ireland, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States.
The attack submarine, UB123, was lost with its 36 crew when it struck a mine in the North Sea while attempting to return to Germany.