The sinking of the RMS Leinster in 1918 by a German submarine, was by far the worst loss of life in Irish Waters. The ship was struck by two torpedoes. The first hit the Mail Room which contained, as was the practice at the time, 22 Post Office mail sorters, 21 of whom lost their lives in the sinking. The second hit the Engine Room and proved decisive in sinking the ship. It is estimated that the total deaths amounted to over 550 including crew, military personnel and civilians.
More Irish people died on the Leinster than on the Titanic & Lucitania combined!
Many of the postal workers are understood to have come from the Kingstown (Dún Laoghaire) area and it has been reported that some were members of local GAA clubs. Although Cartlann Digiteach Cuala has no evidence of any connections to our ancestral clubs, we wonder might there be families out there who know more?
To mark the centenary of the sinking, a series of commemorative events is taking place in Dún Laoghaire . Brochure.
Cartlann Digiteach Cuala (Cuala Digital Archive) was established in 2009 to assemble an on-line archive of images, stories and memorabilia relating to Cuala and its ‘ancestral’ clubs.
If you have any information or material to share with us, please contact –
Michael Goodwin, +353 (0) 87 2266140, history@cualagaa.ie
Contributors can be assured that all material will be kept safe, treated with care and returned promptly.
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