The 111th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic
By Tom Gillespie
THIS week, April 15, marked the 111th anniversary of the sinking of the steamship Titanic, in which many Mayo passengers, particularly from the Lahardane area, perished.
The Connaught Telegraph, in the edition of Saturday, April 20, of that year, reported on the tragedy, which stated:
The White Star line, Titanic, which sailed from Southampton on Wednesday, after calling at Queenstown for passengers for New York, collided with an iceberg on Monday morning and was wrecked.
She had 1,455 passengers and 903 of a crew, was on her maiden voyage, and the first accounts received in this country was that she foundered shortly after the collision, that other ships, attracted by wireless messages, had gone to her assistance and taken off some of the passengers, but the fate of many was unknown.
Some 187 Irish passengers, representing almost every part of Ireland, joined the Titanic at Queenstown.
From every district in Mayo emigrants were drawn, large numbers of them from the Castlebar and Ballyhaunis districts.
When the news of the disaster became known keen anxiety was displayed by the relatives and friends of the passengers as to their fate and the wildest rumours were in circulation.
Immediately the news reached Castlebar, one of the local agents of the White Star Line, Mr. Thomas Durcan, who had booked 10 emigrants from the Lahardane district by the Titanic, wired to the head office in Liverpool, and received the following reply:
“Liverpool, 4.30 p.m., Tuesday.
“Referring to your telegram re. Titanic, deeply regret to say that latest word received is steamer foundered; about 675 souls, mostly women and children, saved.”
Latest accounts, all of which confirmed the shocking tragedy, but giving no positive news, were to the effect that the survivors numbered 868, and that the death toll reached an appalling total of 1,490, which included many natives of Ireland, American millionaires and others representing various classes on both sides of the Atlantic and many from Europe.
The loss of this great ship, the most magnificent ever built, and believed to be practically unsinkable, constitutes the most appalling loss in the maritime history of the world.
World-wide sympathy has been evoked by the catastrophe and in London and other centres relief funds have been opened for the immediate aid and permanent relief of the widows, orphans and dependants of the passengers and crew.
The following are the passengers booked by Mr. Thomas Durcan, Castlebar, and the presumption is that all have been lost, still there is hope that some of the females may have been rescued:
Norah Fleming,
Patrick Canavan,
Bridget Donohoe,
James Flynn,
Mary Mannion,
John Bourke,
Catherine Bourke,
Mary Bourke,
Kate McDermott,
Mary Canavan.
All the above are from the Lahardane district, as are the following, booked by Mrs. Walsh, Linenhall Street, Castlebar:
Annie McGowan,
Catherine McGowan,
Delia Mahon,
Annie Kate Kelly.
In the list of survivors published on Thursday, the name of Miss Annie McGowan appeared.
In the edition of April 27, 1912, The Connaught Telegraph carried a report from a meeting of the Castlebar Board of Guardians.
It read: At the fortnightly meeting of the Castlebar Board of Guardians on Saturday, Mr. Jos. Gilmartin presiding.
Mr. A.C. Carmine said: I understand, Mr. Chairman, that the Board is not going to transact any other business after you pose a resolution of sympathy with an old and respected member who has met with great loss, but before that resolution is proposed I would wish to be allowed to propose one which I’m sure you all will endorse as it refers to one of the greatest calamities of this or any other generation.
It is as follows:
“Castlebar Board of Guardians desire to express their deep sorrow with which its members have received the sad tidings of the loss of the steamship Titanic.
“This overwhelming disaster has brought mourning to hundreds of families in many parts of the world whom the Board tenders its sincere sympathy and especially to those in County Mayo and Castlebar Union.”
Continuing, Mr. Larminie said: It doesn’t require any words of mine to impress the gravity of the situation that has arisen owing to this unique and desperate disaster.
“We all have read accounts of it and we may be thankful that even some of the people have been saved owing to the advanced scientific methods of disseminating intelligence.
“Some families have suffered terribly, men, women and children being victims. One might speak for hours on this terrible catastrophe.”
Mr. John Walsh said he had a resolution on the same subject which was as follows:
‘Resolved - “That we, the members of the Castlebar Board of Guardians and District Council, deeply sympathise with the friends and relatives on the ill-fated Titanic, and we deplore the loss of so many of our boys and girls and we sincerely trust that the day is at hand when they will find employment at home under a Home Rule Government and not be compelled to risk the danger which confronts them by seeking employment in foreign lands.”
Mr. Conway, Co.C., seconded. It was a sad end for those poor people and he re-echoed the hope expressed in the resolution that the day was near at hand when they would be able to live at home.
The chairman, Mr. Gilmartin, declared both resolutions carried and he joined in the expressions of sympathy with the friends of the unfortunate people who had met such an untimely end. It was sincerely to be hoped that for the future emigration would be on the wane under a native Parliament.
For the record: The Titanic was a British passenger liner that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in the early morning of April 15, 1912. The sinking caused the deaths of more than 1,500 people in one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters in modern history.
Under the command of Edward Smith, the ship's passengers included some of the wealthiest people in the world, as well as hundreds of emigrants from Great Britain and Ireland, Scandinavia and elsewhere throughout Europe seeking a new life in North America.