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| Ireland’s Flag flying near Titanic entrance as part of "Titanic Honors the Irish celebration. |
Almost 97 years ago, at 11:30 p.m. on April 14, 1912 the unsinkable RMS Titanic was breached by an iceberg. Less than three hours later she achieved a static permanent place in history as she sank to a watery grave in the frigid waters of the north Atlantic taking 1513 passengers and crew with her. Fortunately, although the great ship herself might be a static piece of history at the bottom of the Atlantic, the celebration and memory of her short life and the passengers and crew who sailed on her are anything but static at "Branson’s Titanic-Worlds Largest Museum Attraction".
Although the museum itself, built on half scale to the original and towering 100 feet above the ground, is impressive, it is the way it is continually evolving and changing to give its guests a new and exciting experience that adds the life and excitement to the memory of what it is celebrating. This year, for the entire month of March, the museum is celebrating “Titanic Honors the Irish” an event dedicated to the Irish involvement with the RMS Titanic from its building and routing to the composition of its crew and passengers on its fateful voyage.
As one would expect, the event will have Irish music and a few other surprises, but what one would not expect is the integration of “new” Irish crew members and passengers in a manner that, while sharing the basic Titanic experience, does it from such a completely different perspective, that it’s an entirely different exciting experience.
Although this writer has been through the Titanic before he had never met Titanic Stewardess/Nurse Violet Jessop before his “voyage” on March 7. Nurse Jessop shared that she was working on the Titanic at the time it sank and barely survived as she got on the last lifeboat launched. She went on to describe two other near death experiences at sea that, simply put, adds new meaning to the “Term luck of the Irish.”
During the “voyage,” Father Francis Browne, a Jesuit priest and photographer from Ireland shared that there were 120 passengers on the ship that “called Ireland home.” Father Browne went on to point out that the Titanic was built in Ireland, launched in Ireland, and that Queensland (Cobh) Ireland was her last port of call prior to the start of her fateful trip across the Atlantic.
A little later in the voyage, Third Class Irish Passengers Agnes McCoy and Patrick Dooly also shared the details of their RMS Titanic voyage. From romance to familial love their stories added additional excitement, depth, and meaning to the museum experience.
Nurse Jessop, Father Brown, and Third Class Passengers McCoy and Dooly are all traveling on the Titanic as part of the Irish Festival. The description of what they shared is intentionally brief so as to not spoil the surprise, excitement, and adventure of the experience for those who might be taking a similar voyage on the Titanic as part of its March “Titanic Honors the Irish” Festival. One thing is very obvious, the members of the Titanic crew have not only prepared very well for their roles in this event, but, as importantly, really care about what they are doing and the experience the guest has.
With the interaction of the Titanic’s crew with its guests it’s sometimes hard not to look at the Titanic as a Branson show rather than just an attraction or museum. After the March 7 voyage on the Titanic as part of its Irish Festival and watching the Irish crew and passengers entertaining the museums guests that distinction just became harder. As an aside, if on your voyage, the opportunity to experience Nurse Jessop’s recitation of the poem, “Third Class 1912” by Tom Peters should present itself, don’t miss it.
