AN IRISHMAN who is believed to have saved more than 50 lives in the Titanic tragedy has been honoured in his home town in County Cork.
Jack Foley was working as a storekeeper on board the RMS Titanic when it made its ill-fated journey to America in April 1912, and his acts of heroism on the night it sank has now been immortalised in the form of a plaque in his hometown of Youghal.
As the ship began to sink, Mr Foley and his fellow crewmen took charge of Lifeboat 4, guiding dozens of women and children to safety as they awaited rescue, which eventually came in the form of the RMS Carpathia.
An estimated 1,500 people died in the disaster, but every woman and child who were guided on to the lifeboat by Mr Jack Foley survived.
The plaque to commemorate the native Youghal man was unveiled in the town over the weekend by Mayor Mary Linehan Foley, with Jack Foley's great-grandnephew Don Mulcahy, and great-great-grandniece Sarah present at the ceremony.
The commemoration was sparked by local men Kevin Melly and Peter Landers, who set up a fundraiser to allow the hero to be remembered in his home town.
The fundraiser, set up in March of this year, raised over €1,200, and the plaque was created by local artists Eithne Ring and Liam Lavery.
