THE sinking of the RMS Lusitania off the coast of Co. Cork during World War One remains imprinted on the identity of the town a local community leader has said.
This month marks the 110-year anniversary of the maritime tragedy which saw the British ocean liner torpedoed by a German U-boat just 11 miles south of the Old Head of Kinsale.
The RMS Lusitania sank off the coast of Cork in 1915The liner had left New York on May 1, 1915, on a voyage to Liverpool, before it was hit by the German submarine at 2pm on May 7.
The ship sank in just 18 minutes, killing 1201 of the 1962 people on board.
Most of the 761 people who we saved were brought to Cobh, together with many of the recovered bodies, which meant the town played a direct role in the aftermath of the tragedy.
"The Lusitania tragedy is not just part of Cobh’s history—it’s part of our identity,” Hendrick Verwey, from Cobh Tourism, said this week, as the town prepared its annual ceremony to mark the anniversary.
“Each year we come together to honour those who were lost, and to reflect on the strength and compassion shown by the people of Cobh in the aftermath of the sinking,” he explained.
Commemorations are held in Cobh each year to mark the sinking of the Lusitania“It’s a time for remembrance, but also to question if society has learned anything from previous wartime atrocities?"
On May 10 1915, a funeral Mass was held for 150 victims of the Lusitania in Cobh’s Old Church Cemetery, which saw thousands of people from Cobh and across Cork turn out to pay their respects to the victims.
Glass memorial headstones now mark the graves within the cemetery, which is the central point for the annual commemorations held in the town.
For 2025 Cobh’s Lusitania Commemoration, which is organised by Cobh Tourism, will take place on May 11.
The public ceremony will begin at Cobh Town Centre at 2.30pm with prayers, music and the laying of wreaths.
It will then move to the Old Church Cemetery where a wreath will be laid at the memorials to the 170 victims that were buried in the cemetery.
See More: Anniversary, Cobh, Cork, RMS Lusitania, WWI
