John Donnelly was born in Cornoonagh, Crossmaglen, County Armagh, Northern Ireland, on the 8th September 1891, the son of Peter and Judith “Julia” Donnelly (née McGinnis). His mother was a widow, who had previously been married to Peter English, and she had a son from her first marriage named Michael English. He had at least one younger brother named Peter, who was born in 1894.
It is not known when the family moved to Liverpool, Lancashire, England, but in 1914, his father died, and by 1915, the family home was at 271, Derby Road, Liverpool, Lancashire.
In April 1915, John Donnelly and his older half-brother, Michael English, and his younger brother, Peter, engaged as firemen in the Engineering Department on board the Lusitania at Liverpool, at a monthly rate of pay of £6-10s.-0d. (£6.50p.), £1-0s.-0d. of which was advanced to them at the time. They reported for duty early on the morning of the 17th April; in time for the vessels last ever voyage out of the River Mersey.
Three weeks later, John Donnelly 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 23 years. His body was never recovered and identified afterwards and as a consequence, he is commemorated on the Mercantile Marine Memorial to The Missing, at Tower Hill, London.
His half-brother, Michael English, and his brother Peter Donnelly survived the sinking and having been rescued from the sea and landed at Queenstown, they eventually continued on their journey to their home in Liverpool where, no doubt, they broke the sad news to their mother.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, Cunard Records, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, UK Campaign Medals Awarded to World War I Merchant Seamen 1914 – 1925, PRO BT 334, PRO BT 351/1/37026, 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 March 2023.