Post by KG on May 7, 2019 10:33:10 GMT
Hopes Lusitania wreck may be gifted to local museum
The wreck of the Lusitania, which sank off the Old Head of Kinsale in 1915, may be gifted to the local museum.
US businessman Greg Bemis, the owner of the wreck, oversees dives carried out under licence and many of the artefacts recovered over the years have been donated to the Old Head of Kinsale Museum.
A spokesperson for museum said there is a possibility that Mr Bemis might donate the wreck to it.
Con Hayes said the ship may be more important than the Titanic from an historical perspective, but in some ways it is often a forgotten ship.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Mr Hayes said the donation of artefacts from the wreck has so far been a "a gentleman's agreement", but he thinks it will be formalised later.
"We have been commemorating the Lusitania, of course, because we built the Lusitania memorial garden at the Old Head.
"We want to continue that work by building a full scale museum where we can display Lusitania artefacts and tell the story properly."
The Cunard British cruise liner, the largest ship in the world when built, was torpedoed by a German U-boat off the coast of Co Cork on 7 May 1915, with the loss of 1,201 lives.
Its wreck, 11 nautical miles off the Old Head of Kinsale, is regarded as a war grave and protected by an Underwater Heritage Order under National Monuments Acts.
LINK
The wreck of the Lusitania, which sank off the Old Head of Kinsale in 1915, may be gifted to the local museum.
US businessman Greg Bemis, the owner of the wreck, oversees dives carried out under licence and many of the artefacts recovered over the years have been donated to the Old Head of Kinsale Museum.
A spokesperson for museum said there is a possibility that Mr Bemis might donate the wreck to it.
Con Hayes said the ship may be more important than the Titanic from an historical perspective, but in some ways it is often a forgotten ship.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Mr Hayes said the donation of artefacts from the wreck has so far been a "a gentleman's agreement", but he thinks it will be formalised later.
"We have been commemorating the Lusitania, of course, because we built the Lusitania memorial garden at the Old Head.
"We want to continue that work by building a full scale museum where we can display Lusitania artefacts and tell the story properly."
The Cunard British cruise liner, the largest ship in the world when built, was torpedoed by a German U-boat off the coast of Co Cork on 7 May 1915, with the loss of 1,201 lives.
Its wreck, 11 nautical miles off the Old Head of Kinsale, is regarded as a war grave and protected by an Underwater Heritage Order under National Monuments Acts.
LINK
