Church bells to ring out at the moment RMS Leinster was hit

CHURCH bells throughout Dún Laoghaire will ring out at exactly 9.45am on Wednesday, October 10 to mark the approximate time that the first shell hit the doomed Mail Boat Leinster causing the deaths of over 550 people, many of them from the locality.

At the same time the bells are ringing out, the business people on Dún Laoghaire's Patrick Street will have transformed their shops to make them appear as they may have looked at the time of the disaster 100 years earlier.

Meanwhile, people will be attending an inter-church ceremony in the local St Michael's Church from 9.30am followed by a civic commemoration at the nearby Lexicon library in Moran Park.

The Leinster centenary events are already underway with a highly successful ‘100 boats for 100 years’ yacht race on Sunday, September 23 that saw each participating yacht dropping a white flower over the wreck of the Leinster, which was part of the course.

There will also be several musical tributes, the first on Friday, October 5 in the Dún Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club when the ‘Sick & Indigent Song Club’ will perform a Sea Shanties tribute commencing at 8pm. On Sunday, October 7, a major Centenary Concert sponsored by the British Royal Mail will take place in Christ Church & Mariners on Dún Laoghaire's Park Road.

The star attraction will be Niamh Murray. On Monday, October 8 there will be a Jazz Tribute to the Leinster victims in the Dún Laoghaire Club, 3 Eblana Avenue, commencing at 9pm.

Other highlights include the unveiling of a memorial stone following a tour of Leinster graves in Deansgrange Cemetery. The tour commences at 2pm on Sunday, October 7.

The centenary events will be rounded off on Sunday, October 21 with a special mass.