Cobh to mark anniversary of Lusitania sinking

AN EVENT to commemorate the 109th anniversary of the sinking of the Lusitania will take place in Cobh next week.

Organised by Cobh Tourism, the ceremonies, set to take place on May 6, will remember those who lost their lives on the fateful wartime voyage which came to a halt on May 7, 1915.

The memorial ceremony will commence at the Lusitania graves in the Old Church Cemetery in Cobh at 2.30pm.

This will be followed by prayers, musical honours by the Commodore Male Voice Choir, and the laying of wreaths.

A colour party from the Organisation of National Ex-Servicemen and Women and representatives of the Royal Naval Association and other maritime and historical groups will take place at 3.15pm at the Lusitania Peace Memorial in Casement Sq.

The Lusitania has a strong connection with Cobh, to where many of the passengers were ferried following the sinking and were accommodated in local hospitals, lodging houses, and private homes. Some 145 passengers were buried in mass graves three days after the sinking, 80 of which were never identified, and all remain in plots at the Old Church Cemetery.

The Cunard ocean liner was sunk by a German torpedo 11 miles off the Old Head of Kinsale while journeying from New York to Liverpool with 1,962 people onboard. Of these, 761 were saved during a rescue mission involving a flotilla of boats from the Cork coast. A total of 1,201 passengers lost their lives, with the majority of their bodies never recovered.

• For more, see www.visitcobh.com.