Addergoole Titanic Society 99th Anniversary Bell Ringing Commemorations 15th April 2011 between 1.00am & 3.00am

RMS Titanic sank off the Great Banks of Newfoundland at 2.20am on the morning of the 15th April 1912. This year marks the 99th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. Amongst the 2,223 passengers and crew on board that night, were fourteen misfortunate emigrants from the Parish of Addergoole in North Mayo, eleven of whom drowned, the single largest European passenger group to lose their lives on Titanic. This year, early on the morning of Friday the15th April 2011, the people of Lahardane will again remember those fourteen emigrants by the ringing of the free-standing Timoney Bell at St Patrick’s Church at precisely the time of the sinking.

The annual bell-ringing ceremony, with readings, poetry, recitations and songs will start at 1.00am and finish at 3.00am on the morning of 15th April 2011. Many of the bell-ringers are descendants of the fourteen who set out from here in early April 1912 on their long journey to Cobh and their pitiful fate aboard Titanic.

Dr Paul Nolan, Chairman of the Addergoole Titanic Society, recalls;
“Titanic’s dead may be down in the dark icy waters of the North Atlantic, but they are still remembered. As our bell tolls for that lonely time in the darkness of the early morning, the peals ring out over the windswept slopes of Nephin Mountain and echo across the dark waters of Lough Conn, reminding us, that all our emigrants, no matter where they travelled to in the world, or how they fared, are fondly remembered by us here in North Mayo.”

Bell Ringing Venue: St Patrick’s Church Lahardane, Ballina, Co Mayo, Ireland
Start: 1.00am
Finish: 3.00am
All are welcome to attend the Addergoole Titanic Bell-Ringing Vigil on 15th April, details of which can be found on DiscoverIreland.ie. Last year some 300 people from across Ireland attended this unique ceremony.
No registration is necessary, but note the unusual time.
Note: The ceremony takes place in the open air, in the church grounds. Please wrap up warm.
Overnight accommodation is available in hotels and guesthouses in nearby Crossmolina, Enniscoe, Pontoon, Foxford and Castlebar.

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