Historic maiden voyage of Titanic from Ireland

“The maiden voyage of the new White Star liner Titanic ended in disaster yesterday morning, the giant vessel sinking, with about 1,500 of those on board, off the coast of Newfoundland, after collision with an iceberg” (Belfast Newsletter, 16 April,1912).

The Titanic sank more than ninety years ago but the myth of the Titanic continues to this day. Shortly after the ship sank, people who had been booked to travel and had changed their plans explained their change of mind as a premonition that the ship was ill-fated. Fact and fiction have become entangled and created outlandish theories about the ship's fate and recounted terrifying premonitions of disaster. As with all good legends, the Titanic's legacy is a curse.

The Titanic sailed from Queenstown, County Cork, on 11 April 1912 with many Irish emigrants as third class passengers intent on embarking on a new life in America. On 14 April 1912, the ship collided with an iceberg and sank, with the loss of over 1000 lives. The building and launch of the luxury ship had already made world headlines with the Titanic heralded as unsinkable and the largest, the fastest, the finest and the most luxurious liner in the world.

The Titanic was built in the Belfast shipyard, Harland & Wolff, alongside her sister ship, the Olympic. Newspapers in Belfast during 1911 carried reports on the progress of the ship's construction, including the arrival of the largest anchor in the world at the shipyard for installation in the Titanic.

Newspaper notices in May 1911 invited the public to view the finished liner before the launch. The ship was launched from Belfast on 31 May 1911 and successfully completed sea trials in Belfast Lough during 1912. Hundreds of men in Belfast had worked on the construction of the luxury liner, fitting the essential engineering components, rudimentary steerage facilities for third class travelers and luxurious interiors for first and second class passengers.

The city was deeply attached to the Titanic. There were Irish passengers and crew on board the ship. The first report of the Titanic sinking was published by the three Belfast daily newspapers on 16 April 1912. Early reports indicated that no lives had been lost. When the facts were known, Belfast mourned a personal loss and grieved for the dead they knew and the dead they had never known.

The city's attachment to the ship has never diminished. A statue stands in the grounds of Belfast City Hall, commemorating the Titanic dead. Today there are several Titanic societies with many members who have personal and family connections with the ship's victims and survivors.