Denis Kehoe was born, although his birth does not appear to have been registered, in Liverpool. Lancashire, England, in 1894, the son of Peter and Julia Kehoe (née Cooper). His father was a dock labourer. Denis was the eldest of two children having a younger sister named Bridget, who died aged 1 year in 1896, and he had an older half-brother, Peter, who was born to his mother before she married Peter Kehoe. In 1896, his mother died, and his father re-married in 1905. By 1915, the family home was at 86, Leeds Street, Vauxhall, Liverpool.
After completing his education, Denis worked as a labourer in a chemical yard before joining the Mercantile Marine as a trimmer on steam ships.
He engaged as a trimmer in the Engineering Department on board the Lusitania at Liverpool on the 12th April 1915, at a monthly wage of £6-0s.-0d. and joined the vessel at 8 a.m., on the 17th April, before she sailed out of the River Mersey for the final time. His half-brother, Peter, also signed on for the voyage as a fireman.
He was killed, three weeks later when the vessel was torpedoed and sunk. He was aged 21 years. His half-brother survived and no doubt returned to the family home in Liverpool to break the news to his family.
As his body was not amongst those recovered and identified afterwards, his name is embossed on the Mercantile Marine Memorial at Tower Hill, London.
1911 Census of England, Cunard Records, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, PRO BT 100/345, PRO BT 334, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Pauline Campbell, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.
Revised & Updated – 4th February 2024.