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RMS Leinster

Sir,—The short piece by Joseph E.A. Connell Jr (HI 26.5, Sept./Oct. 2018, 100 Years Ago) on the sinking of the RMS Leinster on 10 October 1918, while it was sailing between Kingstown (now Dún Laoghaire) and Holyhead, was most informative. It may be of interest to your readers that one of the 270 people who survived the sinking was Alderman Michael Joyce MP. Joyce was a member of the Irish Parliamentary Party, and represented the people of Limerick City in the House of Commons. This was the fifth shipwreck that he was involved in, having survived four when he was a sailor and later a pilot on the River Shannon. It was because of his experience in these situations that he was able to be of some assistance to those who were struggling in the water. The author refers to the rescuing of survivors by ships from the Royal Navy, one of these by the name of Lively. Coincidentally, Lively was the name of the second husband of one of Michael Joyce’s daughters. Michael Joyce did not contest the general election of 1918, after serving for eighteen years (1900–18) as the MP for Limerick City; he gave way to M.P. Colivet of Sinn Féin.—Yours etc.,

TADHG MOLONEY
Limerick