The area is the nearest point of land to where the RMS Lusitania was sunk in 1915, 18 kilometres (9+1⁄2 nautical miles) from the site of the sinking.

[3] The Old Head has hosted "lighthouses" for millennia, with references to a beacon of light being maintained on the headland dating back to pre-Christian Ireland.

[4] On 13 November 1665 Charles II granted letters patent to Sir Robert Reading to construct six lighthouses around the coast of Ireland.

[1] In 1804 the Revenue Commissioners replaced the brazier with a temporary 1.8-metre (5.9 ft) lantern lit by oil lamps.

Eight years later it was recommended that the temporary light be replaced by a permanent tower lighthouse with keepers' cottages at its base.

[1] A new lantern was installed in 1907 with the current character of "Gp Fl(2) W 10s" (a group of 2 white flashes repeated every 10 seconds).

[1] On 7 May 1915, the RMS Lusitania passenger liner was travelling from New York to Liverpool, when she was torpedoed by a German U-boat, around 18 kilometres (9+1⁄2 nautical miles) from the Old Head of Kinsale.

The owner of the wreck of the Lusitania lent various artefacts to house in the museum, which were recovered by Eoin McGarry four years earlier during an authorised dive.