Granddaughter of Lusitania survivor to present moneybelt to Kinsale museum

Alice Middleton McDougall was mistakenly thought to be dead after being pulled from the sinking liner, but a finger twitch alerted staff to her survival and they christened her ‘Marvel’.

Jackie McDougall Weiner with a photo of her grandmother, Alice Middleton McDougall, who survived the sinking of the Lusitania. Ms Middleton McDougall was one of the 1,962 people on board the Cunard liner when it was torpedoed by a German u-boat some 11 miles off the Old Head of Kinsale on May 7, 1915, as it steamed from New York to Liverpool.

A granddaughter of the woman nicknamed Lusitania’s Marvel is due to present the moneybelt she was wearing when the ship was sunk to a Cork museum as it hosts commemorative events this weekend to mark the 107th anniversary of the maritime tragedy.

Oregon-based Jackie McDougall Weiner, the granddaughter of Lusitania survivor Alice Middleton McDougall, will visit the Old Head of Kinsale Signal Tower and Lusitania Museum on Saturday where she will formally present to the museum the moneybelt Alice was wearing when the ship went down.