Irish Aboard Titanic (20 page)

It was not what Kennedy had envisaged for himself on his twentieth birthday, 11 April 1912, when he boarded the
Titanic
at Queenstown. He had been a humble picture framer by occupation in Ireland, and hoped for new opportunities through emigration to the United States. His brother Michael had already transplanted himself there and had written glowingly of the chances for improvement to be found in the United States. So John bade farewell to his ageing parents, Thomas (64) and Mary (61), kissing his 21-year-old sister Ellen goodbye as he packed for the trip to Queenstown by rail. The train from Limerick, via Cork, brought him to the very water's edge at Deepwater Quay, where tenders were waiting to take this latest herd of humanity to their emigrant vessel.

How John Kennedy escaped from the
Titanic
remains a mystery, although he somehow gained access to one of the early lifeboats – probably one of those on the starboard side (one of the odd-numbered boats) where men were allowed board when no further women came forward. We know he was a pipe smoker – perhaps the decision to go for that last puff on deck before bedtime helped save his life.

The American Red Cross relief report, case No. 239, notes his occupation as a picture framer. Uninjured, Kennedy was awarded only $50 compensation.

John Kennedy moved in with his brother Michael at 29 Perry Street in New York and lodged a claim for compensation with the US District Court. His losses included Irish whiskey and Limerick hams and bacon.

1 Blue coat – £5 10s; Freeze overcoat – £3 10s; half doz. suits underwear £2 2s; 1 blue serge suit – £3 10s; 1 suit clothes – £2 5s; 1 English cover watch & chain – £3 10s; half doz. pairs socks – 12s; 1 brooch – 10s; Miscellaneous: Shawls, clothing and underwear for three children – £3 10s; 1 pair shoes – 16s; 1 pair shoes – 10s; 1 set china and fancy ornaments – £1 16s; religious articles, prayer books, rosaries, etc. – 16s; 1 Meerschaum pipe, 1 lb mixture – £1 2s; articles for presents: Irish whiskey, Limerick hams and bacon – 18s. Currency – £2 10s.

TOTAL £33 7s.

But Kennedy was even more enterprising – he also submitted an arbitrary £500 bill for unspecified personal injuries. His final compensation claim therefore came to over £533, at a time when the pound sterling was equivalent to five dollars. By such standards, Kennedy's claim was the largest by far of any submitted by an Irish survivor, amounting to $2,665. When the final payout came, it was limited in liability and represented only three cents to the dollar.

It is doubtful he benefited, because May 1918 brought his call-up to serve his adopted country's cause and proved fatal:

Hancock soldier succumbs to malignant case of anthrax

Private John Kennedy, of Machine Gun Company 21, Has Cheek Infected by Use of Shaving Brush and Hasty Death Results
.

After an illness of four days, Private John Kennedy, age 25 years, of machine gun company no. 21, a draftee coming to Camp Hancock from his home, Brooklyn NY, 5 May, died Sunday afternoon at the Base Hospital from malignant anthrax.

The death of Kennedy from this cause is the first case of this nature to develop in any cantonment of the United States and the only case of a like nature ever known in this city or vicinity, according to physicians.

Anthrax is the most infectious disease known to medical science. From the standpoint of infection and immunity the disease is of particular interest. It is the first disease of which the bacterial etiology was proven, that is, the first case where disease by germ was proven beyond question.

It is particularly applied to cattle and sheep and prevails in certain European countries, especially Russia and Australia. That it is peculiar to animals was possibly the reason for its early discovery in Kennedy's case, the lieutenant-physician pronouncing the case anthrax coming from northern New York, where the disease is not such a rarity, and where tanneries are many.

The examining physician, recognising the symptoms of anthrax, had Kennedy immediately taken to the Base Hospital where a spear was taken from the pus and sent to the University Hospital for analysis. The answer came back positive. The disease started on the right cheek of the deceased and is believed to have been communicated by a shaving brush. It is known that bacillus anthrax has survived from 10 to 12 years on dry hair.

The remains of Private Kennedy were forwarded from the R. E. Elliott funeral home Monday afternoon, the casket being hermetically sealed, and sent to the home of Michael Kennedy, the only living relative, at No. 7, Fourth Place, Brooklyn, NY.

(
Augusta Chronicle
, 11 June 1918)

1911 census – Kennedy.

Thomas (63) labourer; wife May (61).

Married 42 years, 13 children, five alive.

John (23),
shop porter. Ellen (19), domestic servant.

John Kiernan (25) Lost

Phillip Kiernan (22) Lost

Ticket numbers 367227 and 367229. Paid £7 15s each.

Boarded at Queenstown. Third Class.

From: Fostragh, Aughnacliffe, County Longford.

Destination: Grove Street, Jersey city, New Jersey.

Brothers John and Phillip went down to their deaths together – their loss all the more poignant because John had returned from America to bring Phillip to a new life across the sea. John Kiernan was an attractive personality, good-looking and charming. He had prospered in New Jersey, having originally crossed the Atlantic to work as a bar tender in a premises run by his uncle, Phillip Kelleher, a beer distributor in Jersey city. He lived at an address at the junction of Grove and 20th Streets.

Among a number of Kiernan children already in America was John's older sister Margaret, who was three years his senior, and the natural progression of their young sibling Phillip to his own beginnings in the ‘Land of the Free' seemed assured. Indeed John Kiernan had returned to Ireland in the spring of 1912 with the express intention of ‘bringing the young lad over'.

John's magnetic personality made him an object of female fascination in the tight-knit locality. He had apparently been courting a neighbouring girl, Margaret Murphy, for some time before he emigrated, and certainly saw her again on his return home. He may only have been indulging in renewing an old flame, but unbeknownst to him, Margaret had her own plans. She hoped to marry John and intended to travel with him back to America – bringing her sister Kate as well.

On the night of the Kiernan brothers' American wake, the Murphy girls came to the going-away party. At some stage, Maggie confided her real purpose and in her account of John's reaction, she told how he ‘reluctantly agreed' that she and her sister could join them on the long journey the next morning. He may not have known that the Murphy family knew nothing of the planned disappearance of both their daughters.

Also in the emigrant party was Thomas McCormack, aged 19, another bar trade worker. A cousin, Thomas, roomed with the brothers on board the mighty vessel, while the Murphy sisters occupied a cabin at the other end of the ship for single women. McCormack told the
Jersey Journal
of 23 April 1912:

When the
Titanic
first struck the iceberg I was in my stateroom preparing to retire. I heard the crash as the ship struck the ice and at once hurriedly dressed and ran on deck, followed by my cousin, Phillip Kiernan, of Jersey City.

It was brotherly love that cost Phil his life. As he was hurrying toward the deck his brother John called to him to go on, that he would be there in a minute. As we reached the stairs Phillip looked around, and not seeing his brother, started to return to look for him. I kept on and did not see either of them again.

An
Irish World
account of 4 May 1912, discloses Maggie Murphy's description of the last moments of the Kiernan brothers, with all the emphasis on her favourite, John:

I was trying to get to a lifeboat when John shouted to me and came running up. ‘Here, take my lifebelt,' he said, seeing I did not have one. He made me put it on and put me in a boat. He and his brother Phillip were drowned.

John's chivalry at the time of his own imminent demise is indeed admirable, but the next account shows that he was also beaten by sailors, who believed his delivery of the lifejacket to be a ploy to allow him near to the boats. The Murphys are believed to have been saved in either boat No. 14 or boat No. 16, all the way aft on the port side. Note, however, in this extract that Margaret Murphy goes on to make specific charges against members of the crew:

A Brave Irish Youth

Having related how a brave young Irishman, John Kiernan, who was lost, gave her his lifebelt, she said –

‘A crowd of men were trying to get up to a higher deck and were fighting the sailors; all striking and scuffling and swearing. Women and some children were there, praying and crying.'

‘Then the sailors fastened down the hatchways leading to the Third-Class section. They said they wanted to keep the air down there so the vessel would stay up longer. It meant all hope was gone for those still down there.'

John Kiernan, she said, helped her into the boat and said ‘Goodbye' – as he had said it a hundred times at the door of her father's store. She knew he did not intend to get in himself, but the sailors drove him away. She added – ‘Just as the davits were being swung outward, a Chinaman pushed a woman out of the boat and took her place. Sailors grabbed him and handed him back to the deck. Then some one shot him and his body tumbled into the water. It was terrible.'

(
Irish Independent,
9 May 1912)

Margaret's account is similar to other descriptions of shootings in this left-rear quadrant of the
Titanic'
s boat deck – whereas the official inquiries were only told that warning shots were fired to dissuade jumpers as the boats were lowered. Fifth Officer Harold Lowe admitted that he shouted at passengers that he would shoot the first leaper ‘like a dog'. Lowe also said he both heard shots and fired them.

J. P. Farrell, MP for Longford, tried to raise the ‘Brave Irish Youth' newspaper report with Lord Mersey, chairman of the British inquiry which called no steerage passengers to testify during its proceedings. Lord Mersey rejected the application and asked Mr Farrell to confine himself to what were ‘proper issues'.

It appears that John Kiernan may have become separated from Phillip during the sinking, since the latter receives scant mention in eyewitness reports. Local folklore in Fostra is that John went on deck while Phillip was asleep – and was later unable to retrace his steps to find his brother because the steerage passengers were kept back and he couldn't breach the cordon.

Margaret Murphy referred in one interview immediately after the sinking to a crowd fighting with sailors for access to the boat deck. She added: ‘John Kiernan and the other lads grabbed some chairs and piled them on top of each other so they made a sort of a scaffold. They helped us girls on top of the chairs so that we were above the crowd fighting all around us and not in such danger of being hurt.'

The
Jersey Advocate
printed a tribute to John Kiernan soon after the sinking:

Two of the Longford boys lost on the
Titanic
–
the brothers John and Philip Kiernan

Several readers of the
Advocate
in Jersey city and natives of County Longford wish to send their deepest sympathy to the relatives and friends of the two brave youths, John Joseph and Philip Kiernan, who, it seems, lost their lives by trying to save others. I have heard that some of the survivors say that they owe their lives to them. I have known John Joseph since he first came to this country about seven years ago. He was then a mere boy … Well may the saying be applied to him, no one saw him but to respect him, or knew him but to love him. On 12 August 1911, he sailed for Ireland to visit his parents and friends there. On the eve of his departure, he was given a grand send-off party by his friends and acquaintances, and was presented with a solid gold signet ring and many other presents, and it was a most unusual sight to see the number of people, men and women, and even different nationalities, that accompanied him to the pier on the morning of his departure, and all stood with heavy hearts and streaming eyes watching the boat that bore him away as long as a glimpse of it could be seen – as if they all knew he would never return. Everyone was watching and waiting for him to return when the sad news came that he was on the fatal ship, the
Titanic
. He had his younger brother, Philip, with him whom he was bringing back to this country. They had acted like heroes and went down with the doomed ship and to their eternal reward.

1901 census:

Parents John Kiernan (60), farmer, wife Catherine (50).

Children Bernard (20), Margaret (17),
John (14), Phillip (11)
, Ellen (6).

Thomas Kilgannon (22) Lost

Ticket number 36865. Paid £7 14s 9d.

Boarded at Queenstown. Third Class.

From: Currafarry, Caltra, County Galway.

Destination: 444 West 59th Street, New York city.

Tom Kilgannon wrote a letter to his widowed mother, Mary, on his last day in Queenstown. He boarded the
Titanic
the next day after a long journey from his home place, via Ballinasloe and a train from Athlone. He complains about the extortionate charges for bed and breakfast accommodation in Cork and possibly mirrored by Queenstown's twenty lodging houses for intending emigrants.

His punctuation has been changed for clarity, but his original spelling remains:

Queenstown

April 10, 1912

My Dear Mother

Just a few lyons to let you know how we got on we did not get in here untill half past tin this moring. We had to stay in Cork last knight and we reached that about half past twelve and our knight stay was seven and six on us apeace.