Bernard McKenna was born at Walterstown, Castlebellingham, County Louth, Ireland, on the 23rd March 1883, the son of Owen and Anne McKenna (née Hoey). His family were farmers, and Bernard was one of eleven children in the family.
On leaving school, he worked as a groom in domestic service and later as a labourer on road construction. It is not known whether he became a professional seaman working as a trimmer on steam ships, or whether he was a casual worker.
He engaged as a trimmer in the Engineering Department on board the Lusitania on the 12th April 1915 at Liverpool at a monthly wage of £6-0s.-0d. He was killed when she was sunk. He was aged 32 years.
His body was not recovered and identified afterwards and as a result, he is commemorated on the Mercantile Marine Memorial at Tower Hill, London.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, Ireland Select Catholic Birth and Baptism Registers 1763 – 1917, 1901 Census of Ireland, 1911 Census of Ireland, Cunard Records, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, PRO BT 100/345, PRO BT 334, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.
Revised & Updated – 21st December 2024.