Mary Agatha Glynn from Slieveanore survives the sinking of the Titanic, 1912

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Sduddy
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Joined: Sun Sep 26, 2010 10:07 am

Mary Agatha Glynn from Slieveanore survives the sinking of the Titanic, 1912

Post by Sduddy » Fri Oct 21, 2022 1:32 pm

I found the story on this website: https://www.sigtheatre.org/titanicticket/third-class/
Miss Mary Agatha Glynn, Age 18
Miss Mary Agatha Glynn was born in Slieveanore, Ireland on July 2, 1893. She was the daughter of Patrick Glynn (b. 1856), a farmer, and Ellen Guilfoyle (b. 1866). Her parents had married in early 1889 and had thirteen children.

Mary worked as a domestic servant in a hotel in Scarriff, Ireland.
Mary boarded the Titanic at Queenstown on April 11, 1912 as a third class passenger. She was traveling to Washington, DC where she had a cousin, Mrs. D. Courtney, who lived at 715 North Capitol Street. While aboard she shared a cabin with three other women from her area, Mary McGovern, Julia Smyth and Kate Connolly.

Survived: On the night of the sinking Mary related that she and her cabin mates, Mary, Julia and Kate, felt the sensation of the ship striking something. Inquiring from passing crewmen as to if they were in any danger, they were reportedly ridiculed for their anxiety and told to go back to their bunks. Shortly after however they were told otherwise they left their cabin and went into the communal third class areas. In terror, she and her friends knelt in prayer but a man she identified as Martin Gallagher, found them and led them into a second class area of the ship. She and the other three girls from her cabin were rescued in Lifeboat 13. Mary described the perilous moment that the lifeboat, unable to release itself from the falls once lowered, was threatened with being crushed by Lifeboat 15 which was lowering rapidly overhead.
Mary eventually reached America aboard the rescue ship Carpathia and spent time in the hospital to recuperate. She also received modest monetary assistance from the American Red Cross before she continued her journey to Washington where she remained.
Mary soon met her future husband, Patrick Joseph O’Donoghue (b. 1887), a streetcar conductor from Ireland who had emigrated in 1907. The couple were married in Washington, DC on October 18, 1917 and made their home there where her husband later managed a restaurant.
Mary died while visiting her daughter in St. Petersburg, Florida on February 26, 1955. She was buried in Fort Lincoln Cemetery in Washington, DC. Her widower Patrick died just over a year later on October 10, 1956.
The 1901 census shows Mary [Agatha] aged 7: http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/p ... e/1084979/

Tom McDowell’s “Emigrants from Feakle Parish through Ellis Island 1892-1924” (https://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/cocla ... grants.htm) lists Mary’s sisters, Annie, Delia and Katie, and her brothers James and Patrick, but not Mary herself.

Sheila

Sduddy
Posts: 1826
Joined: Sun Sep 26, 2010 10:07 am

Re: Mary Agatha Glynn from Slieveanore survives the sinking of the Titanic, 1912

Post by Sduddy » Sat Oct 22, 2022 11:47 am

I found a nice photo of Mary Agatha Glynn on the Quin Heritage Group site: https://quinheritage.ie/s-s-titanic/. The article is by Michael Houlihan. He explains that Eileen Gallagher nee Guilfoyle, Quin Gardens, is Mary Agatha Glynn’s second cousin.

Sheila

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