Irish Aboard Titanic (9 page)

Kate met her fellow passenger, Julia Smyth, at Ballywilliam train station in Cavan as both waited for a locomotive to bring them on the long journey south to Cork. The pair became firm friends and shared a cabin on
Titanic
. Kate, her new acquaintance Julia, and fellow Cavan girl Mary McGovern all roomed together on board, along with another Irish girl, Mary Agatha Glynn from Clare. All four were saved.

Afterwards, however, Kate was in need of the assistance of the American Red Cross, as instanced in its 1913 report: ‘No. 85. (Irish.) Domestic servant, 21 years old, injured. $100'.

Kate Connolly became a live-in maid at a New York city brownstone. In 1914 a near neighbour followed her to the States. Two years her junior, William Arkins had lived only a mile from Kate's homestead in Cavan. They were married in St Patrick's Cathedral in 1916. William worked in a New Jersey shipyard during the First World War. In 1919 their first child, James, was born, followed by John the next year. Peter arrived in 1925, but a fourth son, Thomas, died after just a month of life in 1926. By this time the family had progressively amassed enough money to own several apartment buildings. Kate took care of the tenants and collected rents – and tried to forget about the
Titanic.
She died from a stroke at 9.45 p.m. on 3 July 1948 at her home in 147th Street, Whitestone, New York. She had just turned 60.

‘She never liked to talk about the
Titanic,
but might comment on anniversaries,' said her son John. ‘She said the sailors were mainly British and treated the Third Class like dirt. They prevented them from getting to the decks. During the sinking, she said, two or three of the young men found other ways to get up to the deck and came back and directed the young ladies.'

Local lore in Cavan suggests that Kate Connolly was the first to wake in her cabin and pulled the other girls out of bed ‘by the hair of their heads' because they were unwilling to take the reported accident seriously.

Kate Connolly (35) Lost

Ticket number 330972. Paid £7 12s 7d.

Boarded at Queenstown. Third Class.

From: Bank Place, Tipperary town, County Tipperary.

Destination: Bound to stay with J. Bunbury, Dobbs Ferry, New York.

The loss of the
Titanic
is still the topical subject of discussion here, and all news of the terrible disaster to the ill-fated monster is eagerly devoured.

Great regret is expressed locally that despite all the hopes cherished by reason of the unhappily uncorroborated messages, Miss Katie Connolly, of Bank Place, must have gone to a better land, either with the doomed vessel, or as a result of the terrible exposure to which delicately nurtured women were no proof against in most cases.

Stereotyped expressions of sympathy are but farcical in cases of such national and universal catastrophe.

(
Tipperary Star,
27 April 1912)

Kate's widowed mother, a 67-year-old shopkeeper had been hoping against hope that her daughter had lived. A mistaken report that she had indeed been rescued must have brought elation and relief – the later confirmation of her death, over a week later, only crushing sorrow.

The newspaper reports indicate the roller-coaster of emotion experienced in late April 1912 by mother Kate Snr and her family of Margaret (37), a music teacher, Edward (33), who made piecemeal money as a blade sharpener, and Richard (29), who had been running a cycle business, but was now a porter.

First
The Cork Examiner
of 20 April 1912:

There were two Kate Connollys amongst the passengers. One has been saved, but it is impossible to say which.

Then this wrong report in the same newspaper three days later:

Tipperary lady saved

Major Pomeroy Colley, Resident Magistrate, Tipperary, proceeded to Dublin to make enquiries regarding the fate of his brother, Edward Pomeroy Colley, on board the ill-fated liner.

On Friday he found that the name of Kate Connolly, Bank Place, Tipperary, was on the list of the saved, and with great consideration and kindness he wired the fact to the relatives.

Miss Connolly was returning to America after a visit to her aged mother and her brothers here, and much satisfaction prevails at the news.

In fact, Kate Connolly had drowned – apparently because she trusted too much in the security of the big ship, even when alerted to the collision with the iceberg, as her fellow traveller Katie McCarthy told in a letter carried by
The Cork Examiner
of 11 May 1912:

About 12 o'clock on Sunday night, Roger Tobin called us to get up, but told us not to be frightened as there was no danger. To make sure however of our safety, he told us to get lifebelts. There were three of us in the room: Katie Peters, Katie Connolly and myself.

When Roger Tobin called me I wanted them to come up on deck, but they would not come. They appeared to think there was no danger. That was the last I saw of them.

The American Red Cross later aided the Connolly family:

No. 86. (Irish.) A daughter was drowned while coming out to this country to get employment in order to help her family in Ireland. The family consisted of the mother, 70 years old, a sister 50, and two brothers, 44 and 38 years respectively.

The sister has tuberculosis and earns only $2 a week giving music lessons. The elder brother is a knife sharpener and the other is a porter, both earning small wages. The daughter's passage, amounting to $39, was paid by her second cousin, who lives in this country.

He at first requested that this amount be refunded to him, but later gladly accepted the suggestion that it be sent instead to the mother in Ireland to meet her immediate needs. The English Committee later gave the family £40.

Patrick Connors (66) Lost

Ticket number 370369. Paid £7 15s.

Boarded at Queenstown. Third Class.

From: Charleville, County Cork.

Destination: 361 West 12th Street, New York city.

Although travelling in Third Class, Patrick Connors (birth name O'Connor) was as rich as Croesus compared with the rest of steerage. Indeed, he had more money on his body when found than the average Irish passenger was worth in total assets. He could certainly have afforded to travel Second Class – where access to the lifeboats was easier, although it is statistically true that a greater percentage of men were saved in Third Class than in Second. But Mr Connors prided himself on having pulled himself up by his bootstraps and on knowing the value of a dollar. He had been living in the United States for four decades, but was returning from a visit to his home place in Charleville (Rath Luirc), County Cork.

Charleville man one of the victims

News has been received in Charleville that Patrick O'Connor, a native of that town, is to be counted with those who went down with the SS
Titanic
. The deceased gentleman had been 38 years in America, where he had amassed a considerable fortune, and had last June decided upon paying a visit to the old land.

He stayed in Charleville at the house of his sister, Mrs M. Shanahan, for ten months and presented a splendid appearance of robust health.

Information was received a few days ago to the effect that his body had been picked up. The report has since been verified, and identification has been made an easy matter by reason of letters and other documents found in his clothes.

Mr O'Connor was only 24 years when he emigrated, being just 62 last month [
sic
], and his reminiscences of his early struggles in the States were extremely interesting. Needless to say, the greatest sympathy is felt for Mrs Shanahan over his sad and untimely end, and it is to be hoped that her claim to a share out of the funds collected for the relatives of those who went down with the ill-fated vessel will be recognised when the benevolent work of distribution is commenced.

(
C
ork Free Press,
May 1912)

From the Public Archives of Nova Scotia:

Body No 171. Male. Estimated age 70. White Hair.

Clothes – Black overcoat; cardigan jacket; blue pants; blue shirt; black boots.

Effects – Letter of credit £80; £12 in Irish notes; £2 in purse; silver watch and chain; 7s 10 and a half d.

Third Class. Name – Patrick Connors.

Ellen Corr (16) Saved

Ticket number 367231. Paid £7 15s.

Boarded at Queenstown. Third Class.

From: Corglass, Moyne, Arva, County Longford.

Destination: 38 East 75th Street, New York city.

Ellen Corr, aged 16, was rescued in lifeboat No. 16. Launched from the port side, the British inquiry determined that it went away with a total of fifty-six persons aboard, all Second- and Third-Class women and children, with six crew. It probably went much earlier than its ‘official' departure time of 1.35 a.m.

Barely more than a child herself, Ellen was emigrating to New York, where two elder sisters already lived. They were Mary (19), who was married to a Patrick Farley, of 1368 Third Avenue, and Honor (20), of 38 East 75th Street. A third elder sister, Bridget (18), may also have been in the US by 1912.

A domestic servant, Ellen's household in her native Corglass included seven of the ten children born to her loving – but crowded – parents. In 1911 the packed house looked like this: Farmer Charles Corr (64), and his wife Bridget, who was very much younger at 43; their children – Ellen (16), Anna Maria (14), Teresa (11), Maggie (9), George (7), Lizzie (5), and James P. (3). Ellen, baptised with the name Helen, was born on 28 July 1895.

Report of the American Red Cross (Titanic Disaster
) 1913:

No. 90.
(Irish.) Girl, 16 years old. ($100)

Ellen Corr later worked as a waitress at the Royal restaurant in John Street, New York, rising to become head waitress. She married an Irishman named Patrick Sweeney in a ceremony at St Patrick's Cathedral. They lived at 245 East 207th Street, the Bronx, but were never blessed with children. Ellen died on 9 March 1980, at the House of the Holy Comforter Hospital in the Bronx, and was buried in the Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Mount Pleasant, New York. Her family say that she refused absolutely to ever talk about her
Titanic
experiences.

1901 census:

Father Charles Corr (50), farmer. Wife Bridget (32) née Masterson.

Children: Honor (9), Mary K. (8), Bridget (7), Ellen (5), Anne (3), Theresa, eight months.

Mary Coutts (36) Saved

Ticket number 3761. Paid £15 18s.

Boarded at Southampton. Third Class.

From: Monaghan and Belfast.

Destination: 148 Fourth Avenue, Brooklyn, New York city.

Known as ‘Minnie', Mary Coutts was dramatically handed a lifejacket by a steward who told her: ‘If you're saved, pray for me.'

Minnie was originally from Monaghan town. She had married a Belfast man named William Coutts, surrendering her maiden name of Treanor. The couple had two children. William then decided upon emigration to the United States, went on alone, and in April 1912 sent for his family to join him. Minnie therefore booked tickets on the
Titanic
for herself and her children William Leslie (9) and Neville (3). The family had lived in London and boarded at Southampton. All three were saved in lifeboat No. 2, the seventh and last-but-one lowered from the port side of the stricken ship.

The
Irish News
reported on 20 April 1912:

The formal list of survivors issued up to the present includes also Robert Hopkins, able seaman, of Belfast, and persons named Coutts, who are stated to belong to this neighbourhood, but who have not yet been definitely traced.

Report of the American Red Cross (Titanic Disaster) 1913:

No. 91. (Irish.) A mother, 37 years of age, with two children, nine and three years old, coming to join her husband in Brooklyn, lost five cases of household goods. She was not injured. The husband, employed as engraver, earns a fair salary but assists his aged mother in Ireland and was unable to furnish his home without assistance. ($750)

Happily reunited, the Coutts family went to live in Maplewood, New Jersey. Minnie died at her home at South Pierson Road on 29 February 1960. She was a widow, aged 84. Her remains were cremated and the ashes passed to her son, 51-year-old stocks and bonds salesman Neville, the boy of three she had scooped up from the deck of the
Titanic
as she entered a lifeboat with his older brother.

The older brother, William Leslie, a widower, had predeceased his mother, dying on Christmas Day 1957 in Steubenville, Ohio.

Eugene Daly (29) Saved

Ticket number 382650. Paid £6 19s.

Boarded at Queenstown. Third Class.

From: 2 Wolfe Tone Terrace, Athlone, County Westmeath.

Destination: E.G. Schuktze, 477 Avenue E, Brooklyn, New York city.

Eugene Daly was on board the
Titanic
until the very end. His sensational story tells of an officer shooting two men dead – before another shot rings out and the officer himself falls. Daly's account of the panic and of his own escape is probably the most graphic of any told by any survivor. He was in compartment C-23 on F deck, very far forward on the starboard side, so close to the impact that he was almost thrown out of bed:

I was in compartment 23, Deck C, steerage [there was no steerage accommodation on C Deck]. Two other men were with me. I was in my bunk asleep on the Sunday night (the night of the disaster). A crash woke me up. It nearly threw me from my bed. I got up and went to the door. I put on my trousers and shoes.

I met the steward in the gangway. He said there was nothing serious and that I might go back. I went back for a little while. Then I went up on deck as I heard a noise there. People were running around. Then I went down and went to the room where Maggie Daly and Bertha Mulvihill were.

They came out with me, but a sailor told us there was no danger. He said the ship would float for hours. He also said to go back, and that if there was any danger he would call us.