Contact

You can help us to remember! This site is dedicated to remembering those who died on the RMS Leinster and UB-123. It is also dedicated to the people who survived the Leinster sinking and those who rescued them. We would love to hear from you if you have information on anyone who was caught up in the sinking or its aftermath. If you have any queries we will do our best to answer them. You can contact us at: info@rmsleinster.com

Inside the Leinster Inside the RMS Leinster Courtesy of Ingemar Perup

Inkwell from the RMS Leinster Inkwell recovered from the RMS Leinster Courtesy of Brendan Kerrigan, The Pen Place,  Dun Laoghaire

Technical Drawings Technical drawings of the RMS Leinster   Post office layout on the RMS Leinster

Meet the team

The website, rmsleinster.com, was created in 2003 to promote awareness of the RMS Leinster sinking. The site is maintained by volunteers based on both sides of the Atlantic.

Will Lockhart

Will is from Ottawa, Canada.  He began researching his ancestry at a young age and heard a tale of an ancestor, Frank Higgerty, who had been “torpedoed in Ireland”.  In 1996 the only mention of the RMS Leinster on the internet was on a wreck diving website.  It provided the wreck’s depth, coordinates and suggested it may have been torpedoed.  Determined to learn more, Will went to Ireland that year, at the ripe age of 22, arriving by ferry from Holyhead.  He learned more details through meeting with two historians employed by Irish Ferries and visits to the newspaper offices.  On the 10th October 1996 Will was able to see the RMS Leinster’s anchor near the National Maritime Museum of Ireland.  In the years following Will was surprised by the lack of knowledge about the RMS Leinster’s sinking among the Irish.  He met many Irish people whilst travelling but none that had heard of the sinking.  This did not make sense to him and after connecting online with Philip Lecane he was able to contribute to ensuring the story was not forgotten through the creation and maintenance of the website rmsleinster.com.  Will returned to Ireland for the 100th anniversary of the sinking.

Philip Lecane

Philip moved to Dun Laoghaire, County Dublin (known as Kingstown at the time of the RMS Leinster sinking) in 1984. He first became aware of the sinking when a number of references were made to it at local history society meetings. Surprised that so little was known about the event, he was drawn to research the story. In 2005, his book Torpedoed! The RMS Leinster Disaster was published. In 2003 and 2008 he chaired committees which planned very successful RMS Leinster commemorative events. He worked with Canadian Will Lockhart to create the website www.rmsleinster.com. In 2015, his book Beneath a Turkish Sky: The Royal Dublin Fusiliers and the Assault on Gallipoli was published. In 2018, on the centenary of the sinking, his book Women and Children of the RMS Leinster: Restored to History was published. A committee member of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers Association and Foxrock (County Dublin) Local History Club, he is currently working on a biography of Irish First World fighter ace George McElroy. 

Brian Ellis

Brian has lived in Dun Laoghaire for most of his life. His maternal ancestor, his great grandfather, John Rowlands, was born in Holyhead and was an officer with the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company (CDSPCo.). John Rowlands’ nephew, Hugh Rowlands, was a Ticket Clerk with the CDSPCo. and was lost in the sinking of the RMS Leinster. A combination of family connections and an interest in family history encouraged Brian to continue research into the crew and passengers who were on the RMS Leinster on 10th October 1918. This includes updating the list of those involved, tracing relatives and researching burial records for those who died in the sinking. Brian is the Librarian in the National Maritime Museum in Dun Laoghaire.

Lucille Ellis

Lucille Ellis was born in Dublin and has lived most of her life near the sea. She has a Degree in History and English and a longstanding interest in Local and Family history. During her career as a primary school teacher, she brought these topics into the classroom and the children out into their locale. Lucille has published two books on local history in Ennis, Co Clare and a book on the lives of Clare women. Her main involvement in the RMS Leinster project centres on researching and writing the biographies of those on board the RMS Leinster on 10th October 1918.