According to Cunard Records, and the records of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Patrick McMahon was born in County Monaghan, Ireland, in 1875. In 1915, he lodged at 141, Derby Road, Bootle, Liverpool, Lancashire, England.
Due to his name being very common in County Monaghan, and in the absence of sufficient information, it has proved impossible to identify his origins or life.
He was a professional seaman in the British Mercantile Marine, and engaged as a fireman in the Engineering Department on board the Lusitania at Liverpool on the 13th April 1915 at a monthly rate of £6-10s.-0d. (£6.50p.), and was paid £1-0s.-0d. as an advance on his wages. His previous ship had been the S.S. Holbein.
He was killed three weeks later after the Lusitania was torpedoed and sunk, by the U-20, off the southern coast of Ireland. He was aged 40 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.
In August 1915, his family was paid the balance of wages owing to him in respect of his sea service, which was reckoned from the 17th April 1915 until the 8th May, 24 hours after the liner had gone down.
There was another Fireman Patrick McMahon serving on the Lusitania’s last voyage - a 45 year old who came from Liverpool, Lancashire, and who survived the disaster. Thus, in March 1916, when The Cunard Steam Ship Company published a list of
survivors and perished for the 7th May 1915, there was a Fireman Patrick McMahon, on both! This has caused confusion in certain areas as some have erroneously assumed that one of them was a mistake and that they were, in reality, one and the same person!
Liverpool England Crew Lists 1861 – 1919, Cunard Records, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Cork Examiner, 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 – 6th January 2025.