Retired Irish Coast Guard officer and maritime historian Joe Ryan paid tribute to all those who fulfilled the late maritime advocate Des Branigan's wish to ensure the RMS Leinster victims were remembered.
In an account of the unveiling of a monument in Dún Laoghaire on October 10th to all those who died when the ship sank in 1918, Ryan says Branigan had championed such a memorial, having donated an anchor from the wreck in 1991.
Legacy remembered: The late maritime advocate Des Branigan championed a permanent memorial to the RMS Leinster victims, a wish finally realised with the unveiling of the new monument in Dún Laoghaire
As Afloat has reported, the memorial to the greatest loss of life in the Irish Sea was unveiled on October 10th by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council Cathaoirleach Cllr Barry Saul.
The RMS Leinster was torpedoed and sunk shortly after leaving Dún Laoghaire (then Kingstown), bound for Holyhead, in the final weeks of the First World War.
As Ryan writes in his account, many people associated with the RMS Leinster attended the unveiling.
“Relatives came from around the world. Ambassadors and their staff came from many of those places as far away as Australia, New Zealand, USA and Canada who lost citizens. There were many politicians, members of the defence forces, emergency services and friends of the RMS Leinster,” he writes.
Among those who attended was retired RTÉ senior cameraman Mike Lee, he notes.
Wreck-site tribute: Retired RTÉ senior cameraman Mike Lee aboard LÉ Samuel Beckett with flowers during the Naval Service visit to the RMS Leinster wreck site on October 10th, when 50 relatives travelled out to remember those lost in the 1918 sinking
The Naval Service patrol ship LÉ Samuel Beckett took 50 relatives out to the wreck site on the afternoon of October 10th. A second visit the following day had to be cancelled for operational reasons.
“Many people got involved in the drive to achieve this memorial, and I would like to commend my colleagues on the RMS Leinster Memorial Committee (which we formed in 2019), Richard Cruise and David Cotter for staying the course,” Ryan writes.
“We were helped by Philip Lecane, who has written two books on the tragedy, and Brian Ellis, who built the database on those lost and survivors at the Maritime Museum. Deirdre Black became involved when she became Heritage Officer,” he says.
“A special thanks to Frank Curran, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council CEO, whose open-door policy gave me an opportunity to make our case. Many cathaoirleacha (local authority chairs) have given encouragement as well as ministers, TDs and councillors. Various relatives and their stories inspired us,” he says.
A full account by Ryan is available here.
