In 1906, the Lusitania was launched into service by the Cunard Line, Liverpool. Nine years later, during the Great War, the world witnessed a most tragic event, the sinking of the Lusitania. In total, the loss of life amounted to 1, 198 people, men, women and children. Among the dead, there were a number of people from Co. Cavan, their lives lost at the hands of the German navy.
Previous voyage
As you may expect, there were some colourful tales attached to her various trans-Atlantic voyages. Recently, Jonathan Shackleton informed me of the following account from the book, ‘Dead Wake’ by Erik Larson, which mentions that “on one previous voyage two big-game hunters, Mr. and Mrs. D. Saunderson of County Cavan, Ireland, were allowed to bring two four month old lion cubs aboard, which they had captured in British East Africa and planned to give to the Bronx Zoo. The couple’s two-year-old daughter, Lydia, played with the cubs on deck, ‘much to the amusement of the other passengers’, according to the New York Times. Mrs. Saunderson attracted a good deal of attention herself. She had killed an elephant. “No, I was not afraid,” she told the Times. “I think I never am”.”
Final journey
Germany made her intentions clear on May 1, 1915, the day on which the Lusitania was to set sail from New York. In Washington, the German Embassy had issued a warning which appeared in American newspapers, stating: ‘Travellers intending to embark on the Atlantic voyage are reminded that a state of war exists between Germany and her Allies and Great Britain and her Allies; that the zone of war includes the waters adjacent to the British Isles; that, in accordance with formal notice given by the Imperial German Government, vessels flying the flag of Great Britain or any of her Allies, are liable to destruction.’ The Lusitania set sail as planned, intending to arrive at Liverpool on May 8. Those on board were well aware of the dangers posed, fearing an attack might take place on the Irish Sea, probably at night.
On May 7, about 2 o’clock in the afternoon, the Lusitania sailed along the south-west coast of Ireland, near to the Old Head of Kinsale. One of the passengers on board, Viscontess Rhonda of Wales, recalled that there was a sense of danger prior to the torpedo-attack by a German submarine. The Viscontess recalled: ‘my father and I had just come out of the dining-room after lunching and were strolling into the lift on D deck. “I think we might stay up on deck tonight to see if we get our thrill”, her father said in refernce to a possible attack. She then describes what happened in the next few minutes, ‘there was a dull and sudden thud-like, not very loud but unmistakable explosion. It seemed to come from a little below us and about the middle of the vessel on the port-side that was the side towards the land. I turned and came out of the lift; somehow, the stairs seemed safer.’ It was not long before crowds of steerage passengers came rushing up from below, ‘white-faced and terrified’. By now, the air was filled with shrieking as only ‘the strongest got to the life-boats and the weak were pushed aside’. The Viscontess, who survived, recalled: ‘here and there a man had his arm round a woman’s waist and bore her along with him; but there were no children to be seen; no children could have lived in that throng.’ Life-boats were filled in no particuliar order. As the sinking ship’s bow rose above the waters, those left on board included the Viscontess, who had to jump from a height of 60 feet into the sea. Among those who did not make it, there were at least four people from Co. Cavan.
Cavan passengers
Ernest Moore was a prosperous farmer from Lisdarn, Cavan, who had regularly exhibited at various agricultural shows in Cavan. In 1912, he had travelled to Canada for health reasons. On 1 May 1915, he boarded the Lusitania as ‘a second cabin passenger’. His health having recovered sufficiently, Moore had decided that the time was right to make a trip home and surprise his sister Jennie, who still lived in Cavan. While on the Lusitania, Mr. Moore met three Cavan women, Miss Susan Coleman, Miss Bridget Lee and her niece, Margaret Galligan, formerly from Ardlogher, Denn. Unfortunately, things turned out differently for Ernest Moore, who sadly perished. Bridget Lee and Margaret Galligan survived to inform Moore’s sister about his death. The Anglo-Celt interviewed Miss Bridget Lee, reporting that she ‘looked none the worse of the terrible ordeal through which she had passed’, continuing, she recalled that she was at ‘lunch when the first shock was felt, the general topic at the table being the submarines.’ Initially, everyone got-up and ran, but they were urged by the ship’s staff to return to the dining area. A second shock was felt and pandemonium broke out. Life-belts were supplied, while both Bridget Lee and her niece ‘clasped each other’s arms, and then suddenly the vessel went down, and they with it, praying fervently to God for mercy.’ Miss Lee recalled, that everything went blank until they suddenly found themselves back above water, still clasping arms. Nearby, they spotted a floating deck chair, an object that they clung onto for 2 hours before being rescued. Miss Lee added, that ‘the spectacle of the dead bodies floating on all sides’ could not be forgotten. Another survivor, Susan Coleman, aged 22, was originally from Cootehill and had been living in Brooklyn, New York. Susan would lose £100 worth in possessions when the ship sank, however, having survived, it was said that she ‘looked in no way upset after her thrilling experience, and expressed her thanks at getting away from the agonising scene of disaster.’ Susan later returned to Cootehill, where she would marry Mr. Joseph Sharpe of Drumcondra, Maudabawn. After the disaster, the dead who had been recovered were brought ashore to Queenstown (Cobh), Co. Cork, for burial. Many of the bodies could not be identified and therefore were placed in a large common grave. Each coffin in this grave was numbered. Those from Cavan, who died, include Thomas McCutcheon, a fireman working on board the vessel who was a native of Cootehill. Another was Philp Keating, also a fireman, born in Cavan and had a sister Miss Anne Keating who lived at Crossreagh, Mullagh. The fourth person, Mary Delaney, died aged 34, she was a native of Shannow, Co. Cavan. Mary had been living in Connecticut, USA, from 1904
A bad penny
Germany’s response could hardly be described as endearing. To mark their cruel deed, they issued a commemorative coin that depicts death in the form of a skeleton who issues tickets to the Lusitania’s passengers. For further information, see: www.rmslusitania.info/tag/county-cavan/ Other references are from, Sir John Hammerton’s book, ‘I Was There: the human story of the Great War’.
