22-04-2025
Cork heritage group gets go-ahead to build Lusitania museum
A Kinsale-based heritage group has received planning permission from Cork County Council for a new museum to commemorate the Lusitania.
The Old Head Signal Tower Heritage CLC has gotten the green light for a new Lusitania Museum on a site close to where the vessel infamously sank more than 100 years ago.
The group said that the new museum can act as a draw to tourists that will benefit not just Kinsale but surrounding towns too, as it lies on the designated Wild Atlantic Way touring route.
During World War One, the British passenger liner Lusitania was torpedoed by a German U-boat off the Cork coast, resulting in almost 1,200 deaths. The event was seen as a heinous act by the Germans, and is believed to be a contributory factor in the US joining the war in 1917.
The bid for planning sought permission to demolish existing temporary structures on the site and the removal of the existing on-site wastewater treatment plant.
In its place, it sought permission to build a single-storey, L-shaped museum incorporating an exhibition space, cafe, gift shop and more across 641m2.
In a planning statement, they said: 'The proposed development aims to ensure the continued and improved use of the site as The Lusitania Museum and Memorial Garden.
'This site is significant as it represents the closest point of land to the final resting place of the RMS Lusitania. It also incorporates Ireland's only restored Napoleonic Signal Tower, one of 81 coastal defences built in 1801.'
The applicant clarified that the bid for permission does not involve any works to the signal tower structure and would establish a 'high-quality tourism facility' that encourages visitors to explore surrounding towns and villages.
It added: 'By employing an innovative and sensitive design approach, in conjunction with previous conservation initiatives, this project aims to meet visitor demand, improve the visitor experience, and elevate Cork county's status as a premier national and international tourism destination.'
Gregg Bemis
In 2019, an American businessman donated the wreck of the Lusitania to the heritage group. Multi-millionaire Gregg Bemis had originally acquired joint ownership of the vessel in the 1960s and fought multiple legal battles to verify his ownership.
He was also a regular visitor to Kinsale and was hailed as a 'good friend and benefactor' of the town when he passed away in 2020. Mr Bemis had said it was "very important" to get all the artifacts from the wreck into the planned museum.
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