#Commemorations – The annual National Commemoration Service for Irish Seafarers in Dublin on Sunday, 20th November will notably be followed on the same day with an Ecumenical Service held in the National Maritime Museum, Dun Laoghaire. The annual service is hosted by the Maritime Institute of Ireland which this year marks a 75th anniversary.
As referred above the Service for seafarers will be held in the capital at 12:00 hours at the City Quay Memorial to Irish Seafarer's which is dedicated to those lost at sea in WW2. Also notable this year is the centenary period of WW1 in which this will add to the importance in recognising the enormity of both wars and the loss of life from Irish merchant ships. The memorial is located downriver nearby to Tara Street DART Station.
War-time Irish shipping companies ‘House Flags’ along with the banner of the Maritime Institute of Ireland will be paraded by the Sea Scouts. Wreaths will be laid at the memorial. In addition to addresses made the wreaths will be brought into Dublin Bay and floated on these waters. Traditionally this honour is performed on a rotational basis between the tugs of the Dublin Port Company, Naval Service vessels or a R.N.L.I. lifeboat.
Dun Laoghaire Ecumenical Service: Sunday 20th November
On completion of ceremonial proceedings in Dublin (as above) the company will depart that afternoon of Sunday 20th November for the National Maritime Museum of Ireland in Dun Laoghaire. At 14:00hrs an ecumenical service is to be held in the museum housed in the former Church of Ireland Mariner’s Church. The museum is located on Haigh Terrace opposite the Lexicon Library.
The service is to be conducted Fr. Pat Mernagh CF, army chaplain and Rev. William Black port chaplain. All are welcome to attend and following proceedings refreshments will be served.
Cork Ecumenical Service: Sunday 27th November
On the following weekend, the M.I.I.’s annual Cork Ecumenical Service will be held in the Port of Cork Office at 12:00 hrs, Sunday 27th November. The venue of the historic building on Custom House Street is located downriver from the nearby Cork City Bus Eireann station.
Likewise of the services held in Co. Dublin of the previous weekend, anyone who has an interest in the sea are very welcome to attend.
75th Anniversary of Maritime Institute of Ireland
The 75th anniversary of the Maritime Institute of Ireland (Foras Muiridhe na h-Eireann) was marked last month on 31st October 1941, one of the most critical moments in this country’s history.
Some of the founders and earliest supporters had been trying to impress on the general public and on government for at least the previous five years, in particular its real founder and longest serving President, Colonel Anthony Lawlor, that if, as seemed more and more inevitable, a catastrophic European war were to break out, Ireland would very quickly be in crisis. While we had very good reason to declare ourselves neutral, nobody in the highest position of critical responsibility had taken the trouble to ensure how a small neutral island which depended on the importation of vital food and other supplies was going to survive when the ships, mainly owned by non-nationals that carried our vital imports and valuable exports were no longer avail-able. Yet, by 1942, this was precisely what had happened and starvation and economic collapse were all too visible on the horizon to even the dumbest politicians.
The current role of the M.I.I. is to foster an appreciation of our maritime heritage. To that end asides hosting and supporting commemorations, they operate the maritime museum, host lectures, issue newsletters, maintain a library and promote and conduct research.
