The site of the Leinster anchor was refurbished in October 2003

The site of the Leinster anchor was refurbished in October 2003, originally uploaded by infomatique.

The biggest sea tragedy in Irish history was commemorated in January 1996 when the then Minister of State at the Department of the Marine, Eamon Gilmore TD, unveiled a special memorial in Dún Laoghaire Harbour. The memorial was to the 501 people who lost their lives in 1918, when the RMS Leinster was torpedoed just outside Dún Laoghaire Harbour.

On October 10, 1918 the Mailboat, "The RMS Leinster" sailed out of Dún Laoghaire with 685 people on board. 22 were post office workers sorting the mail, 70 were crew and the vast majority of the passengers were soldiers returning to the battlefields of World War I.

Twelve miles out from Dún Laoghaire Harbour, "The Leinster" was torpedoed and sunk by the German U-boat U-132. 501 people lost their lives and the 184 survivors were rescued by the British destroyer RMS Mallard and RMS Lively and taken ashore in Dún Laoghaire. This was the greatest loss ever of Irish life at sea. More Irish people lost their lives on the "Leinster" than on the Titanic or the Lusitania.

In the years leading up to 1996, local divers, Noel Brien, Brian Whelan, Billy Owens and Fred Hick began exploring the sunken wreck of "The Leinster". They recovered the anchor of the vessel and Minister Gilmore unveiled it as a memorial to those who lost their lives.