Titanic remembered

[caption id="attachment_70775" align="alignright" width="600"]

The Titanic leaving Queenstown, now Cobh. This was the last view of the ship from land.[/caption]

Commemoration events are being held around the world this week to mark the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. One will be in Cobh, the ship's final port of call, another in New York, the port that it never reached.

Meanwhile, the new Titanic Belfast visitor attraction was the backdrop to a spectacular light show on Saturday night.

Sign up to The Irish Echo Newsletter

Sign up today to get daily, up-to-date news and views from Irish America.

Up to 30,000 people gathered at the old slipway where Titanic was launched to watch the 3D graphics and pyrotechnics, all set to music.

The display told the story of the Titanic from its design to its sinking in the North Atlantic in the early hours of April 15, 1912 with the loss of over 1,500 lives.

The event was organized by Belfast City Council and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board. Several additional concerts and events have been organized for Belfast during the month of April to commemorate the Titanic, which was built in the city and sank on its maiden voyage after hitting an iceberg as it sailed to New York.

Also this week, a memorial cruise that is retracing the route of the Titanic arrived in Cobh in County Cork from Southampton in England, just as the Titanic did 100 years ago.

Thousands of locals cheered and welcomed the arrival of MS Balmoral, carrying relatives of some of those who died. Others on board the ship were dressed in period costume.

Cobh, formerly known as Queenstown, was the Titanic's last port of call before setting out for New York on its doomed voyage.

In New York, meanwhile, a wreath laying ceremony is being planned for Thursday, 11 a.m. to noon, at Titanic Park on Fulton Street between Pearl and Water Streets in Lower Manhattan.

Speakers will include City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, whose grandmother Ellen "Nellie" Shine survived the Titanic sinking, and Irish Consul General Noel Kilkenny.

The memorial gathering is being held against the backdrop of "Titanic at 100: Myth and Memory," an exhibition that examines both the disaster and a century's worth of fascination with the Titanic's dramatic story.

The exhibition will be held at the Melville Gallery on Water Street, across the street from Titanic Park, the site of the Titanic Memorial Lighthouse, dedicated in 1913 on the one-year anniversary of the disaster, and today part of the South Street Seaport Museum's collection.

 

Donate