A 200 year old ruinous tower, a global maritime tragedy and a community determined to preserve their heritage...
Our project began in 2010 as a community-led heritage project operating as a branch of the local Courcy’s Rural Integrated Development Group. From the outset, the project focused on protecting and interpreting the maritime and coastal heritage of the Old Head of Kinsale, with particular emphasis on the historical significance of the Lusitania and the Napoleonic Old Head Signal Tower.
A multi-disciplinary feasibility study was completed in 2012, resulting in a Masterplan that set out a clear, structured approach to development. This Masterplan identified three key phases:
1. The restoration of the Napoleonic Signal Tower
2. The creation of a Lusitania Memorial Garden
3. The development of a dedicated Lusitania Museum
This structured approach provided a realistic framework for delivery and long-term sustainability.
To protect and preserve the immense heritage of the Napoleonic Signal Tower. By preserving this 220 year old building, we enable visitors to step back in time as they engage with the history.
To remember the human cost of wartime in a peaceful and reflective setting.
Towards better understanding the complex interplay of political manoeuvring in global conflict, the creation of propaganda narratives and civilian devastation through the Lusitania story.
Conducting scientific surveys of the Lusitania wreck and wreck site and retrieval of significant artefacts where appropriate, in collaboration with the National Monuments Service, while ensuring the protection of this underwater gravesite.