Titanic tragedy to be remembered in Cobh

THE 110th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic will be commemorated at a special event in Cobh next month.

The East Cork town, which was the ship’s last port of call, is inviting the public to gather and remember all those who died when the Titanic sank on her maiden voyage to New York in 1912.

The commemoration event will take place on April 10, beginning with a ceremony at the Titanic Memorial at 2.30pm.

A ‘Colour Party’ from the Cobh Irish Naval Branch O.N.E. will parade from the Old Town Hall at Lynch’s Quay to the Titanic Memorial in Pearse Square where a ceremony of prayers and wreath-laying will take place, while the Commodore Male Voice Choir will perform.

Proceedings will then move to the Promenade where the names of the 79 passengers who boarded the Titanic in Cobh on 11 April 1912 and who perished in freezing waters of the North Atlantic less than four days later, will be read. A wreath will then be placed in the sea in memory all those lost in the tragedy.

The ceremonies will conclude with Cobh Confraternity Band’s poignant rendition of the Last Post and Reveille.

The event, organised by Cobh Tourism, has added significance this year, not only because it marks the 110th anniversary of the tragedy, but because it will be the first public event held in two years due to Covid-19 health restrictions.

During the pandemic, Cobh Tourism Board ensured that the traditional commemoration was still honoured, albeit scaled back to a solo representative and held at dawn to ensure it would be done in a quiet and solemn way.

Speaking ahead of the commemorative ceremony, board member of Cobh Tourism, Hendrick Verwey said that being able to gather once more for the ceremony is “another small but significant step for the town in regaining some normality after the challenges of the pandemic.”