A book which hasn’t been on display to the public in Northern Ireland for more than a decade will feature as one of the highlights of this year’s Belfast Titanic Maritime Festival.
The Lord Pirrie book, owned by
Harland and Wolff, will be on display in the
Titanic Hotel Belfast on
Sunday 26th and Monday 27th May. It was gifted to Lord Pirrie by the employees of Harland and Wolff to mark the moment he became the 1st Viscount Pirrie in 1921.
The highly decorated leather bound book is a priceless artefact of great historical value and it was last seen on display over ten years ago at Belfast City Hall for the Titanic Festival. The book will be exhibited in what was once Lord Pirrie’s office in Titanic Hotel Belfast.
Lord Pirrie was one of Harland and Wolff’s most influential chairmen, starting his career in shipbuilding in Harland and Wolff as a sixteen year old gentleman’s apprentice in 1862. He became chairman following the death of Edward Harland, and went on to make the company the largest shipbuilder in the world.
Lord Pirrie served as a Harbour Commissioner, was Lord Mayor of Belfast in 1896 and in 1898 was made the first Honorary Freeman of Belfast. Lord Pirrie and his wife Lady Margaret Pirrie were also instrumental in raising funds for the development of the Royal Victoria Hospital.
Lord Pirrie passed away in June 1924 while on a sea trip to Buenos Aries. His body was brought back to Belfast on board the RMS Olympic, his favourite ship. He is buried in Belfast City Cemetery.
Titanic Foundation, the maritime and industrial heritage charity, organised the display of the book with Harland and Wolff. Chief executive, Kerrie Sweeney said:
“We recognised the unique opportunity we had to display Lord Pirrie’s book in his office, the very room where so many iconic ships were designed, and we reached out to Harland and Wolff. As part of the restoration and transformation of the former Drawing Offices and Headquarters building into Titanic Hotel Belfast, we open the heritage areas in the building to the public for free on key dates. We are delighted that the public will have an opportunity to see Lord Pirrie’s book and that this event will be taking place as part of the popular Belfast Titanic Maritime Festival.”
Jonathan Guest, chief executive, Harland and Wolff Group, commented:
“Lord Pirrie led an exceptional life and left a significant lasting impact in Belfast. It is fantastic that we get to remember his work with the public display of such an important piece of memorabilia from the Harland and Wolff collection. We are pleased to be working with Titanic Foundation as part of the Belfast Titanic Maritime Festival to connect our ship building and maritime heritage back to this area.”