Town to commemorate RMS Leinster tragedy

A SERIES of commemorative events are being planned in Dún Laoghaire for October, to mark the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Leinster. 

The RMS Leinster was the main mail boat operating between Dún Laoghaire, then known as Kingstown, and the Welsh port of Holyhead when it was sunk one month before the end of World War One on October 10, 1918 by German U-boat 123, with the loss of over 500 lives.

The centenary committee is appealing for relatives of those who perished and those that survived the sinking to contact them so they can be  issued with a formal invitation to the event.

“The  commemoration will be held in Dún Laoghaire on Wednesday, October 10 with a similar event happening simultaneously in Holyhead,” explained Breasal Ó Caollaí of the organising committee. “The commemoration will culminate with a minute’s silence.”

Mr Ó Caollaí, who was involved in commemorating the 85th and 90th anniversaries of the RMS Leinster sinking, added that as part of the centenary event there will be lectures, debates and a month-long exhibition in the town.

“We are hoping that President Michael D Higgins will attend the main commemorative event in Dún Laoghaire,” Mr Ó Caollaí added.

“We have also issued a request that if anybody has photographs of the ship or artefacts, such as mugs for example, that they get in touch with the committee. We would like the exhibition to feature items connected directly to the sinking.”

A total of 21 postmen lost their lives instantly when the German torpedo struck the ship’s postal sorting office just 30 minutes off the Irish coast. An anchor from this ship currently sits near the town’s seafront to commemorate the tragedy.

Mr Ó Caollaí said it remains a mystery to this day why the ship was not guarded, considering it was the main passenger ferry between Ireland and Britain and many uniformed officers were among the civilian passengers on board.

“While the sinking of the RMS Leinster had a huge effect nationally, it had an immense effect in Dún Laoghaire, where many families suffered the loss of family members,” Mr Ó Caollaí stated.

The centenary commemorations will include the erection of a headstone at Deansgrave cemetery for William Maher, who lived at 52 Desmond Avenue in Dún Laoghaire.

He was on board the RMS Leinster when it sank and saved several lives.

He was credited by the Royal Humane Society in 1919 for bravery and later died in 1953 aged 78.

Mr Ó Caollaí said that the committee will be working in conjunction with Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council to deliver the headstone in time for the centenary in October.

Anybody who would like to get in touch with the committee can write to ‘Mail Boat Leinster Centenary Committee, 3 Eblana Avenue, Dún Laoghaire’.

REPORT: Andrew Ralph