Mary Delaney was born in Shannow, County Cavan, Ireland on the 10th July 1879, the daughter, and second eldest of nine children, of James and Ellen Delaney (née Corr). Her family were farmers, and Mary became a seamstress on completing her education.
In 1904, she immigrated on board the Oceanic and settled in Hartford, Connecticut, in the United States of America, where she, presumably, found employment.
Not much more is known about her apart from the fact that in the spring of 1915, she decided to cross the Atlantic to England on the first step of her journey home and as a result, booked a third class passage on the May sailing of the
Lusitania from New York to Liverpool.
She must have boarded the liner at her berth at Pier 54 in New York port on the morning of 1st May 1915, in time for her scheduled 10 o’clock sailing and would then have had to wait until just after mid-day before the vessel sailed out of Mary Delaney’s adopted city. This delay was caused whilst the liner loaded cargo and took on board passengers and crew from Anchor Liner the S.S.
Cameronia which the British Admiralty had requisitioned as a troop ship.
Six days later, on the afternoon of 7th May, the Lusitania was torpedoed by the German submarine
U-20, twelve miles off The Old Head of Kinsale in southern Ireland and sank within eighteen minutes! At that stage of her voyage, she was a mere twelve or fourteen hours steaming time away from her home port and ultimate destination.
Mary Delaney was fortunate enough to be one of just over 130 steerage passengers who survived this action, although some 240 others perished.
Having been rescued from the sea and landed at Queenstown, she was given a rail ticket by Cunard to County Cavan and expenses of £0-2s-0d., (£0.10p.). On route, she had to overnight in Dublin, staying in the Athlone Hotel, Dominick Street.
While staying in the hotel, she gave an interview to a reporter from the Daily Express. This report appeared in the edition of Tuesday, 11th May 1915, and stated: -
CAVAN LADY’S RESCUE
PICKED UP UNCONSCIOUS
One of the survivors is Miss Mary Delaney, whose home is at Shannow, Co. Cavan. Miss Delaney, who has been 12 years in America, is on her way home, and stayed last night at the Athlone Hotel, Upper Dominick Street.
Describing her experiences, she said that when the first torpedo struck the vessel, there was no panic, but the passengers made for the lifeboats in an orderly manner. They were, however, she said, led to understand by the officers that there was no danger, and apparently there was then the hope of reaching the shore.
On learning this, Miss Delaney stepped out of the lifeboat in which she had got a place, onto the deck. However, on the second torpedo striking the ship, the same people again made for the lifeboats and Miss Delaney again got into one. Some accident occurred to it, however, and she was thrown into the water.
Mary Delaney, like many others, was mistaken in stating that two torpedoes had struck the ship. The report continues: -
She became unconscious, and the next thing she knew was that she was safely on board a trawler. It appears that she was pulled into a lifeboat by a man she afterwards met at Queenstown, and who told her that she had come up by the side of the boat and clutched on to the side. She does not remember that.
Miss Delaney spoke appreciatively of the treatment she received at Queenstown. The guests in the hotels, she said, gave up their beds, and stayed up all night attending the survivors.
After returning home, she successfully applied to The Lusitania Relief Fund for financial help. This fund was set up by The Lord Mayor of Liverpool and other local businessmen to give aid to those survivors or relatives of the dead who were experiencing financial difficulties as a result of the sinking. The award committee made her a single payment of £5-0s-0d.
She married Peter McIntyre, a local farmer, on the 12th August 1915, and they had one daughter, Mary Ellen, on 24th July 1916. She lived for the remainder of her life on the family farm at Clarebawn, County Cavan, and died there on the 18th January 1967, aged 87 years. She was laid to rest in St. Felim’s Graveyard, Ballinagh, County Cavan.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, 1901 Census of Ireland, 1911 Census of Ireland, Cunard Records, Daily Express, Liverpool Record Office, PRO BT 100/345, UniLiv.D92/1/1 Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.