ALL those wishing to attend the Official Commemoration marking the centenary of the sinking of the RMS Leinster have been urged to submit an Expression of Interest form before the approaching deadline.
Relatives and other interested parties who wish to receive an invitation to attend the ceremony on Wednesday, October 10 are urged to fill in the form and return it by June 29.
The ceremony in Dún Laoghaire will commemorate all those who perished in this tragedy.
The programme will comprise a significant cultural element as well as a formal commemoration and wreath-laying ceremony.
The Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht is co-ordinating the arrangements for this event and is compiling a list of relatives and other interested parties who wish to receive an invitation to attend.
Completed forms can be returned to the Commemorations Unit by post or via email. The postal address is: Commemorations Unit (RMS Leinster Commemoration), Deptartment of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, 3rd Floor, Joyce House 8/11 Lombard Street East, Dublin 2. The email address is commemorations@chg.gov.ie
The Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Josepha Madigan, said the wreath-laying ceremony, with participation by members of the Defence Forces, will also mark the date when the vessel will come under the protection of the National Monuments Acts, which covers all shipwrecks over 100 years old.
Just before 9 o'clock on the morning of Thursday, October 10, 1918, the Royal Mail Steamer (RMS) Leinster began its final voyage from Carlisle Pier in Dún Laoghaire (then Kingstown) to Holyhead in Wales. The ship was owned and operated by the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company.
An estimated 771 passengers and crew were on board, comprising postal sorters, civilian passengers, military and medical personnel and the ship’s crew.
Between 9.30am and 9.40am, the RMS Leinster passed the Kish Light. Shortly afterwards, it was sunk by three torpedoes, fired by German submarine, UB-123.
What unfolded was the worst maritime disaster in the Irish Sea, with over 500 lives lost.
Minister Madigan commended the efforts of all of those who worked for many years to ensure that the stories of all of those who were on board the RMS Leinster were not forgotten.
“Their stories have, for too long, been hidden and unspoken,” Deputy Madigan said.
“As we mark the centenary of this tragedy, we have developed an appreciation of the complex narratives around Ireland’s involvement in World War I and a mature understanding of the complicated context of that time.”