Eddie recalling the History of Ships (Sept 2009)

On the 2nd of September 1886 Edward Redmond married Harriet Brennan in St. Michaels Church, Kingstown.
Edward Redmond occupation was Seaman aboard the City Of Dublin Mail Steampacket – SS.ULSTER.
When the census of 1911 was carried out he was on board ship in Kingstown harbour.
On the 16th of December 1912 my Grandfather Edward Redmond died (of natural causes) on board (the new) SS.ULSTER at sea en route to, or return from Holyhead. His rank at that time was Lower Deck Master.
When the Easter Rising broke out Dublin in 1916, the British desperately needed to get military reinforcements to Ireland.An army division was being assembled at Salisbury comprising 3 brigades of the Leicestershires. The 177th Brigade under the command of Brig.Gen.C.G.Blackadder was ordered to withdraw from the move to the French trenches and take the brigade to Liverpool for embarkation to Ireland.
The SS. ULSTER had been requisitioned at Holyhead and diverted to Liverpool where the 2/5th Leicestershire Regiment boarded the SS.ULSTER which took them to Kingstown on the 26th of April. They were then marched as far as Ballsbridge where Brig. Gen. Blackadder set up HQ in the Agriculural hall. They then moved into a fighting line at the canal and where DEV was commanding-Bolands mill.
After the rising was quelled,these troops were moved around the country,but the trenches in France still beckoned and they were embarked once again on the SS.ULSTER on the 6th of January 1917 at the North Wall for Holyhead,from where the SS.Ulster resumed it’s civilian role. The Brigade was immediately sent onwards to France,for real war
The first SS.Ulster was one of four identical ships, named after after the four provinces, with displacement of 1,421 Tons. In 1897 all four ships were replaced by new fast, 24 knots, ships of 2646 Tons, regarded as the best mail ships of their time.
During the 1914-1918 war the Ulster fared better than it’s sisters. The SS.LEINSTER was torpedoed with 771 on board, 12 miles out of Kingstown, over 500 dead and which to this day is the largest loss of life in the Irish Sea. It happened on the 10th October 1818, a month before the war ended.
The SS. CONNAUGHT was also torpedoed on the 3rd March 1917, but the ship was saved with 3 lives lost. However the CONNAUGHT was torpedoed again later in 1917 on a voyage from Havre to Southampton for the Admiralty but this time sunk. Casualties not revealed.
Ships have history too!
Eddie