Daniel ‘Dan’ Daly is believed to have been born in Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland, in 1873, the son of John and Mary A. Daly. His father was a general labourer, and it is likely the family moved to England while Dan was a child and settled in Liverpool, Lancashire. Nothing further is known of his childhood or family.
He was a professional seaman in the British Mercantile Marine, serving as a fireman on steam ships operating out of Liverpool.
On the 15th May 1898, he married Maud Haughey in Liverpool, and in 1915, they lived at 4, Court, 5, House, Ashfield Street, Liverpool, Lancashire, England. The couple had at least two children, Jane, born in 1901, and Mary Ann, born in 1903.
He engaged as a fireman in the Engineering Department on board the Lusitania, at Liverpool, on the 13th April 1915, at a monthly rate of pay of £6-10s.-0d. (£6.50p.), £1-0s.-0d. of which was advanced to him at the time. He reported for duty four days later, on the early morning of the 17th April; in time for the vessels last ever voyage out of the River Mersey. He had previously served on the S.S. Professor Woermaini.
Three weeks later, he was killed when the Cunarder was torpedoed and sunk off the coast of southern Ireland and only hours away from her home port. He was aged 42 years, although he gave his age on engagement as 39! He also stated that he had been born in Liverpool! His body was never recovered and identified afterwards and consequently, he is commemorated on the Mercantile Marine Memorial to The Missing, at Tower Hill, London.
A truly pathetic scene was reported in The Times for Monday, the 10th May 1915, involving Dan Daly and his mother Mary. It was related by a Times correspondent, who was at Lime Street Station in Liverpool amongst relatives of passengers and crew, all waiting for survivors to arrive from Ireland: -
“I saw one elderly woman, with her shawl hanging from her shoulders and her grey hair in disarray, advancing slowly through the crowd, calling out ‘Is Dan Daly among ye? Dan Daly the fireman?’ She was a mother looking distractedly for her son. Clutching by the arm each member of the crew she encountered, she would moaningly ask whether he did not know Dan Daly the fireman but none of them did know him.
At last she came upon a fireman who did know, and I heard the decisive answer which shattered her hopes. ‘Dan is gone, ma’am. He was down below at the time.’
Throwing up her hands with a gesture of despair, the mother turned aside to lean over a packing case for support, while she wailed and wailed in sorrow.”
Cunard records show the fireman’s surname to be Daley, but this is an error which probably occurred when the crew lists were written down at the time of his engagement, from verbal information.
In August 1915, Dan Daly’s widow, Maud, was paid the balance of wages owing to him for his service on the Lusitania from the 17th April until the 8th May 1915; 24 hours after the great ship had gone down. In addition, The Liverpool and London War Risks Insurance Association Limited granted a yearly pension to Maud Daly to compensate her for the loss of her husband which amounted to £45-11s.-6d. (£45.57½p.), which was payable at the rate of £3-16s.-0d. (£3.80p.) per month.
In September 1921, his eldest daughter, Jane, immigrated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States of America and later married an Irish immigrant named John Thomas Moylan. In 1926, she was joined by her mother, sister, and brother-in-law. All of them remained in the United States of America for the remainder of their lives.
Register of Births, Marriages, and Deaths, 1921 Census of England, Cunard Records, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, UK Campaign Medals Awarded to World War I Merchant Seamen 1914 – 1925, The Times, PRO BT 100/345, PRO BT 351/1/32529, UniLiv. PR 13/24, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.
Revised & Updated –7th February 2023.