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Displaying items by tag: Lecture Lusitania

#LectureLusitania – The Building of the Lusitania is the lecture topic that Cormac Lowth will present in conjunction with the National Maritime Museum of Ireland in Dun Laoghaire next Thursday, 30th April.

Cormac's illustrated lecture will tell the story of the building of the Cunard Line's RMS Lusitania's fateful last journey 100 year ago when she was struck by a U-Boat torpedo during WW1 off the Old Head of Kinsale on 7 May 1915. It is generally considered as being the most significant reason for the United States to finally decide to declare war on Germany.

In addition Cormac will delve into the mysteries of her alleged cargo, the second explosion, salvage attempts and the Special Preservation Order.

Lecture Information: Admission is €10.00 (payable at door from 7.30pm) followed by the talk at 8.00pm. Bookings can also be made be email: [email protected] or Tel: (01) 2143 964

The Maritime Institute of Ireland museum on Haigh Terrace, Dun Laoghaire will also staging a special exhibition on the disaster during the month of May.

The museum also has a gift shop and café. For further details and informantion visit: www.mariner.ie

Published in Boating Fixtures

#LectureLusitania – The Building of the Lusitania, that's the title of the next lecture to be held in National Maritime Museum of Ireland in Dun Laoghaire next Thursday. 30th April.

The centenary lecture beginning at 8:00pm is to be presented by Cormac Lowth, who will accompany the talk with illustrations.

Lowth's Lusitania lecture running for two-hours is been held in conjunction with an exhibition in the Museum's beautiful restored former Mariners Church building.

The exhibition tells the story of her last fateful journey, the mysteries of her alleged cargo, the second explosion, salvage attempts and the special preservation order.

Lecture Information: Admission is €10.00 (payable at door from 7.30pm).

Bookings can also be made be email: [email protected] or Tel: (01) 2143 964

For further information about the Maritime Institute of Ireland's museum (including a gift shop and cafe) on Haigh Terrace, Dun Laoghaire, visit: www.mariner.ie

Published in Boating Fixtures

The Irish Cruiser Racing Association (ICRA) Information

The creation of the Irish Cruiser Racing Association (ICRA) began in a very low key way in the autumn of 2002 with an exploratory meeting between Denis Kiely, Jim Donegan and Fintan Cairns in the Granville Hotel in Waterford, and the first conference was held in February 2003 in Kilkenny.

While numbers of cruiser-racers were large, their specific locations were widespread, but there was simply no denying the numerical strength and majority power of the Cork-Dublin axis. To get what was then a very novel concept up and running, this strength of numbers had to be acknowledged, and the first National Championship in 2003 reflected this, as it was staged in Howth.

ICRA was run by a dedicated group of volunteers each of whom brought their special talents to the organisation. Jim Donegan, the elder statesman, was so much more interested in the wellbeing of the new organisation than in personal advancement that he insisted on Fintan Cairns being the first Commodore, while the distinguished Cork sailor was more than content to be Vice Commodore.

ICRA National Championships

Initially, the highlight of the ICRA season was the National Championship, which is essentially self-limiting, as it is restricted to boats which have or would be eligible for an IRC Rating. Boats not actually rated but eligible were catered for by ICRA’s ace number-cruncher Denis Kiely, who took Ireland’s long-established native rating system ECHO to new heights, thereby providing for extra entries which brought fleet numbers at most annual national championships to comfortably above the hundred mark, particularly at the height of the boom years. 

ICRA Boat of the Year (Winners 2004-2019)