€7.5m Kinsale Lusitania museum expansion plan unveiled

Community group announces plans after Cork County Council granted planning permission for the expansion of its museum at the Old Head of Kinsale 

A visualisation of the proposed interior for the new expanded Lusitania Museum at the Old Head of Kinsale in Co Cork. 

Plans are underway in Co Cork to build the world’s first dedicated museum to commemorate one of the worst maritime disasters in history, which ultimately resulted in the US joining the Allies against the Germans in the First World War.

A community-led organisation is to build the €7.5m museum dedicated to the sinking of the Lusitania at the Old Head of Kinsale in Co Cork.

It will be built next to the old signal house the group renovated in 2015 and the garden of remembrance created in 2017 — which details the names of all who died and survived the liner’s 1915 sinking by a German U-Boat off Kinsale.

Shannon Forde looks out from the top of the restored signal tower which houses the Lusitania Museum at The Old Head of Kinsale, Co Cork. File picture: Larry Cummins

The liner was torpedoed by a German U-boat on May 7, 1915.

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It took just 20 minutes for the ship to sink. It was carrying 1,959 passengers and crew. 1,198 of them drowned.

The dead included 128 US citizens, and their loss eventually brought America into the war.

Shannon Forde, the organisation’s manager, said: “It will be the world’s first dedicated museum for the Lusitania, and we hope to start construction on it before the end of 2028 and have it open in 2030.”

The Cunard liner Lusitania, carrying 1,918 passangers and crew, was hit by a torpedo fired from a German U-boat at 2pm on May 7, 1915, 10 miles off the Old Head of Kinsale. Picture: Irish Examiner Archive

1,198 of the 1,959 passengers and crew aboard the Cunard liner Lusitania died on May 7, 1915, after it was torpedoed by a German U-boat. This photo by Examiner photographer Thomas Barker shows a mass burial of the victims at the Old Church (Clonmel) cemetery in Cobh. Irish Examiner Archive

The group owns the wreck and already has an impressive stockpile of Lusitania memorabilia — which includes portholes and telegraphs from the vessel.

Ms Forde said: “A lot of relatives have memorabilia that they are also willing to give to us, they include plates from the liner, as well as letters and postcards associated with those who were on it.”

She said they are working with the Heritage Council to ensure the museum has top- quality standards for showcasing and preserving the historic artefacts.

A visualisation of the proposed expansion to the Lusitania Museum at the Old Head of Kinsale in Co Cork.

The county council has granted planning permission for the museum.

The funding for the project is expected to come from Fáilte Ireland schemes along the Wild Atlantic Way, the Rural Regeneration Fund, and the Ireland Fund.

Local fundraising will also be involved and to kickstart it, the organisation is hosting an event at St Catherine’s Cultural Centre, Kinsale, on November 5, at 7pm.

It will be addressed by Mike Brady, founder of Oceanliner Designs, an international maritime history platform with almost 1m YouTube subscribers. He is travelling from Australia for the event.

The existing restored signal tower at the Old Head in Kinsale. 

In addition, there will be a presentation by artist and art teacher Áine Andrews, who will speak on and explore Hugh Lane, the Cork-born art dealer, philanthropist, and patron of modern art, who died aboard Lusitania.

There will also be the launch of a fundraising video.