The Noble Maritime Collection will present Untold Stories of the Titanic: Last Port of Call, a virtual lecture by Sonia Joyce of the Titanic Experience Cobh, Ireland on Thursday, June 24, 2021 at 7 PM.

This free lecture is part of the museum’s Noble on Watch (NOW) virtual lecture and concert series. It is presented virtually on the museum's Facebook page at facebook.com/noblemaritime and website at noblemaritime.org/now.

It is part two of the two-part series on Untold Stories of the Titanic. Part one, The Only Black Passenger, premiered on March 6, and is viewable at noblemaritime.org/now.

The White Star Line Ticket Office in Cobh, Ireland, that dates back to the early nineteenth century. The office was the departure point for thousands of White Star Line passengers, including 123 who boarded the *Titanic.* It is now the home of the Titanic Experience Cobh. *Photo courtesy of Titanic Experience Cobh*.

On the morning of April 11, 1912, the RMS Titanic dropped anchor in Cork Harbor. Having already picked up passengers in Southampton, England and Cherbourg, France, this mooring in Ireland was her last port of call. Cameras clicked as she sailed away on her maiden voyage towards the Atlantic Ocean.

The last photographs of the Titanic’s fateful departure are well known, but the people behind the lens are not. To tell their stories, the museum collaborated with the Titanic Experience Cobh in Ireland to present this lecture.

Cobh (pronounced Cove) is a town on an island in Cork Harbor. Between the years 1850 and 1920, it was called Queenstown because of Queen Victoria’s visit to the port in 1849.

The Titanic Experience Cobh is a museum housed in the original White Star Line Ticket Office that dates back to the early nineteenth century. The office was the departure point for thousands of White Star Line passengers, including 123 who boarded the Titanic.

The lecture begins with the Cobh museum’s director, Sonia Joyce, telling the history of the town, and introducing the story of the Odell and May family. She states, “Lily Odell along with her son Jack, sister-in-law Kate, and her two brothers Richard and Stanley May travelled on the Titanic from Southampton to Queenstown. The Odell/May party occupied three First Class suites on B-Deck. On arrival in Ireland, they boarded the tender America to bring them ashore. Kate Odell took some of the last ever photographs of the Titanic while the family sailed towards Queenstown. Little did they know what fate would befall their fellow passengers just days later.”

The Odell/May family toured southern Ireland combining business and leisure in a rental car. As news of the tragedy unfolded, the family returned to England and attended the Titanic memorial service in St. Paul’s Cathedral in London on April 19, 1912.

The Titanic Experience Cobh exhibits personal items of the Odell/May family relating to their trip to Ireland, and Ms. Joyce shows those items during her lecture. The items include Lily Odell’s suitcase, and a collection of family photographs.

Former All-Ireland and World Champion Irish dancer Niall O’Leary introduces the program. He formed the Niall O'Leary School of Irish Dance in Dublin in 1995, in New York City in 1996, in Florida in 2007, and Mexico in 2012.

During the lecture, Ms. Joyce notes that the Irish passengers traveling in Third Class had a party below deck that included dancing and musicians playing traditional instruments. Mr. O’Leary celebrates the lives of the passengers with a special dance and spoon performance, as the presentation's finale.

The Noble Maritime Collection’s Director of Programs Dawn Daniels states, “We are delighted to make this connection with the Titanic Experience Cobh, and host a collaborative event presented from two continents. The stories behind the photographs are compelling, and it was wonderful to partner with a museum on the other side of the ocean. In doing so, we created a model for joint programs with other maritime museums in the future.”

The Noble Maritime Collection’s public programs are supported, in part, with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council; the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature; and a Humanities New York CARES Grant with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the federal CARES Act.