The commemoration of Lusitania will take place in Cobh

A commemoration of the 107th anniversary of the sinking of the Lusitania will take place on Sunday in Cobh.

Organized by Cobh Tourism, the ceremonies are fitting memorials to all those who lost their lives on this fateful wartime journey.

Cobh has a lasting connection to the Lusitania and its tragic history as it is where survivors were brought and many of the dead were buried.

On May 7, 1915, the Cunard Ocean liner ‘Lusitania’ was sunk by a German torpedo 11 miles off the Old Head of Kinsale.

The ship was en route from New York to Liverpool with 1,962 people on board.

Survivors were transported to Queenstown, as Cobh was then known, and were housed in local hospitals, lodging houses and private homes.

Nearly three days after the sinking of the Lusitania, more than 145 of her victims were buried in three mass graves and a few smaller plots in the cemetery at the Old Church, a mile north of the town of Cobh, including 80 n have never been identified.

The memorial ceremony begins at Lusitania’s graves in the Old Church Cemetery at 2:30 p.m.

After prayers, musical honors from the Commodore Male Voice Choir and the laying of wreaths, the proceedings take place in downtown Cobh.

A party of color from the ONE and representatives of the Royal Naval Association and other maritime and historical groups will gather around 3.15pm at the Lusitania Peace Memorial in Casement Square.

Other ceremonies will take place here, including a wreath laying ceremony. Members of the public are invited to attend.

Visitors to Cobh over the anniversary weekend and the coming weeks will find it particularly moving to follow the Lusitania Trail which includes the Lusitania Peace Memorial in Casement Square, Lusitania: A Day in May Exhibit at the Cobh Museum and the Lusitania Exhibit at the Cobh Heritage Center.

This extensive exhibition includes images from the Poole Collection of glass plate photographs taken by AH Poole in the days following the sinking.