Award-winning museum brings the Lusitania story to life
The recent publication of 'The Story So Far: 10 Years of the Lusitania Museum and Old Head Signal Tower' celebrates a decade since the Old Head Signal Tower restoration has become an award-winning visitor attraction.
Featuring photography and contributions from those involved, the book captures the journey so far, as well as looking confidently to the future.
A decade on from the opening of this major tourist attraction built on the innovation and determination of the local voluntary community group, it also coincides with the 110th anniversary of the sinking of RMS Lusitania. The site represents the closest point of land to the final resting place of the iconic vessel, which was torpedoed by a German U-boat on May 7th 1915, with the loss of 1,201 lives.
A stone in the Memorial Garden at the Old Head of Kinsale, Co Cork remembers those 1,198 people who perished on that day. Picture: David Creedon
It was steaming from New York to Liverpool when the torpedo struck at 2 pm on that fateful day in May. There were 90 Irish men, women and children among the dead, including art collector Sir Hugh Lane, James McDermott, the ship's surgeon, and his assistant, Dr Joseph Garry, and the composer Thomas O'Brien Butler. Also on board was one of the richest men in North America at the time, Alfred Vanderbilt.
The sinking was universally viewed as a heinous crime against non-combatants and was cited by many as a justification for America's subsequent joining of the military alliance against Germany in 1917.
Opened in 2015, complete with Ireland's only restored Napoleonic signal tower, the museum tells the tragic tale of RMS Lusitania. Gregg Bemis, the American financier who acquired joint ownership of the sunken vessel in the 1960s, eventually bought it outright for one dollar.
Having fought several legal battles to verify his ownership, Bemis, a former US Army Marine was fought in the Korean War, was determined to discover the cause of a second internal explosion on the ship which occurred just after the German torpedo hit and which is believed to have accelerated its sinking in just 18 minutes with such a devastating loss of life.
In June 2004, Bemis made an unofficial visit to the wreck for a record-setting 287-foot dive. Aged 76, he trained for 18 months to prepare for his death-defying dive, having carefully researched the swiftly changing currents, the lack of visibility, the cold temperatures and the mixture of nitrogen, helium, and oxygen needed at that depth. 'Dammit, it's my boat, and I am going to go down and give it a big kiss,' he declared. 'It's beautiful down there.
You're weightless, like the astronauts, so you move around in an environment that's very mystical and spooky. The only noise is the sound of your breathing. There was virtually no light, but the stuff down there is beautiful. Nearly everything there should be brought up and preserved. It was just beautiful, beautiful.'
Bemis eventually signed over ownership of the wreck to the Old Head of Kinsale Lusitania Museum at a ceremony in 2019, saying: 'I've come to realise that, at almost 91 years old there is only so much more I can do to further this project and I think because of the Lusitania's part in history, it must be done properly and we get all the artefacts we can from the wreck to put in the museum planned for here.'
He died in 2020. The Lusitania Memorial Garden tells the story of the ship's fatal journey, depicted in a 20-metre wave sculpture, including the names of every person on board — a permanent reminder of the catastrophic consequences of war on civilian lives.
Keeping surviviors stories alive for future generations
Manager Shannon Forde says the development of the museum is a great example of how a community can come together to preserve its heritage and share it with visitors from around the world.
Shannon Forde, manager and resident historian in the memorial garden at the Lusitania Museum at the Signal Tower at The Old Head of Kinsale, Co Cork. Picture: Larry Cummins
'There were 1,201 souls lost that day when the Lusitania was sunk — ordinary people going about their business who suddenly found themselves involved in this historically important event.
There are a lot of stories to tell, whether it's the descendants of passengers or crew, or the stories from locals who helped with the rescue efforts, there is always more to be discovered.'
The museum is a popular place for school tours, and children are fascinated by the Lusitania story.
After a recent re-enactment event by the Lord Edward's Own Reenactment Group, where participants dressed up as the red coats, the children were full of excitement and questions.
'Some of them knew everything about Napoleon and knew chapter and verse about that time in history. It's amazing how they retain information and will give you a new perspective with their questions.'
Amongst the ever-growing numbers of visitors coming to the site, some have deeply emotional connections.
'A gentleman told us he was the grandson of a lady who had survived the sinking. It was his first time visiting and meeting other relatives.'
Lusitania Museum & Old Head Signal Tower, Kinsale, Co Cork.
Shannon explains that some of the Lusitania survivors had their names changed, making it hard to trace them: 'But every time you get to meet someone new and show them what we have here in honour of their family member, it is worth all the effort.'
Such is the scope of history contained within the ancient structure, new stories are constantly coming to light through descendants of the tragedy, making the journey to where that fateful event happened. 'There is the history attached to the signal tower and the ship, and there's political relevance, wartime significance, and the human stories. It is so important to do justice to all of it.'
Saved by thr twitch finger
A visit by the granddaughter of a Lusitania survivor in 2022 unearthed a story as extraordinary as it was thrilling. Jackie McDougall Weiner travelled from her home in Oregon to visit the Lusitania Memorial Garden. On board the Lusitania on its fateful final voyage was Jackie's grandmother, Alice Middleton McDougall, who was dragged down with the suction of the sinking vessel after the German torpedo struck.
Her body was eventually retrieved by rescue crews who, believing she was dead, took her body to the morgue in Cobh. In an amazing stroke of good fortune, a sharp-eyed doctor saw a slight finger twitch from the lifeless body, and immediately took emergency medical steps to save her life.
Jackie made the decision to donate the money belt worn by her grandmother to the Lusitania Museum. 'Coming to Old Head at Kinsale for the 107th anniversary of the sinking of the Lusitania and telling of my childhood memories listening to my grandma tell me her experience firsthand of that fateful day was a gift,' she said.
'Not only have I always been grateful because I would never have been born had she not survived, but I took that gift seriously and have tried to live a life that has made a difference to others.' As a child she learned about her grandmother being sucked down an open porthole and eventually returning to the surface, only to witness the screams of humanity all around her.
'She clung to a woman floating next to her as she was giving birth, and she described the dead children as looking like drowned dolls.'
Captain of the Lusitania William Thomas Turner.
Putting her fingers in her ears, trying to stop what she was hearing, she quickly went into a semi-coma and lost consciousness, only to reawaken under the hands of that quick-thinking doctor in Cobh. 'Facts of the tragedy are just that, facts.
What has mattered to me is not whether there were munitions on the ship that exploded or whether it was coal dust that caused the second explosion, or any other theory. It has always been about humanity. Whether those souls perished or survived, each one experienced a terror that can only be imagined.'
The prophetic words written by the remarkable lady whose life was saved by her twitching finger, Alice Middleton McDougal, linger long in the mind:
'So this is war dear people,
Keep from it if you can,
For with it we gain nothing,
Tis just the greed of man.'
For more information, visit www.oldheadofkinsale.com
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