Agnes Kenny was born in County Galway, Ireland, in 1889, and in 1915, her family home was in the village of Ballymacward, County Galway.
Sometime before the Great War, however, she had left her home and gone to the United States of America, settling in New York City, where she presumably found employment.
However, in the spring of 1915, possibly because of the war in Europe, she decided to return home to Ireland and consequently booked herself a third class ticket on the May sailing of the Lusitania, which was due to commence at 10.00 a.m. on 1st May 1915. With ticket number 36374, she joined the vessel at Pier 54 New York, before she sailed from there for the last time, just after mid-day on that date. The delay to her departure was caused because the British Admiralty had requisitioned the Anchor Liner Cameronia as a troop ship and all the passengers, some of the crew and some of the cargo had to be transferred to the Cunarder.
Then, six days out of New York, on the afternoon of 7th May, the Lusitania was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-20, off the coast of southern Ireland and only hours away from the safety of her Liverpool home port. Agnes Kenny survived this action, however, and having been rescued from the sea and landed at Queenstown, she eventually made it back to her native home, probably by train.
Once she had got back to her home, she applied to The Lusitania Relief Fund, for compensation. This Fund had been set up after the tragedy by the Lord Mayor of Liverpool and a group of local businessmen, to help alleviate financial distress caused by the sinking, to second and third class passengers. It was considered that saloon passengers would be financially comfortable enough not to need this help! There is no record of any award being made to her.
In June 1915, she replied to a letter she had received from the mother of Richard Preston Prichard, who had been a second cabin passenger on the Lusitania, and who had not been heard of since the liner had sank, and was presumed drowned. Mrs. Prichard had written to every survivor she could trace in an attempt to learn what might have happened to her son. In her letter of reply, Agnes stated that she hadn’t known Mr. Prichard, and didn’t give any details of her own ordeal.
Nothing is known about Agnes Kenny after 1915.
Cunard Records, Liverpool Record Office, IWM GB62, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.