lifeboats

Why "neutral" ?

I'd guess the caption was done after the sinking of the Lusitania in May 1915, and the writer was trying to be ironic. If the caption was done years later, possibly the writer knew the fate of the ship: www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?153501

Interesting, thanks!

The Netherlands were not involved in WWI. But it gave shelter for many refugees.

It does seem that a war of words was happening in February, 1915 (where the photo is in the Bain flow), so I think it's more likely that the caption was written then. From the Wikipedia article on HMS Lusitania: "1915 The official warning issued by the Imperial German Embassy about travelling on Lusitania. By early 1915 a new threat began to materialize: submarines. At first they were used by the Germans only to attack naval vessels, and they achieved only occasional – but sometimes spectacular – successes. Then the U-boats began to attack merchant vessels at times, although almost always in accordance with the old cruiser rules. Desperate to gain an advantage on the Atlantic, the German government decided to step up their submarine campaign. On 4 February 1915 Germany declared the seas around the British Isles a war zone: from 18 February allied ships in the area would be sunk without warning." This was not wholly unrestricted submarine warfare since efforts would be taken to avoid sinking neutral ships." It is definitely ironic that this very ship (under a French flag and named La Dives) was sunk by the Germans in January, 1918. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Lusitania#International_reaction

Looks like Steamboat Quay, with St Mary's in the background. maps.osi.ie/publicviewer/#V1,557072,656884,7,9

Here's St Mary's from Sarsfield Bridge (the one you can see in the picture): maps.google.ie/maps?q=limerick&hl=en&ll=52.665348...

There's nobody still milling flour in Ireland. You might be able to date it from the fact that the Newtown Perry mill is still in business in this photo.

The Flying Huntsman of Limerick is described in Freeman's in 1899 as a 'steam tug'. The earliest mention I can find of a steam tug of that name is in 1869 when it arrived in Belfast for the purpose of taking two tanks to Glasgow to lift a screw steamer which had sunk ten days previously in the Clyde.

Sad Fatality at Limerick Regatta Freeman's July 19th 1897

looks dangerous; leaning/listing to one side!

Conga line on the port side!

Yikes - Board Trade Regulations had not come in then..Lol!!

Taken from the North Pier. This is as close as streetview gets. The actual vantage point is a little further out the pier.

The Imperial Hotel noted above is called the Victoria Hotel on the 1904 OS Map and the Portrush Bar on the 1896 OS Map