Catherine ‘Katie’ Neill, or O’Neil, was born in Derrymihan East, Castletown Berehaven, County Cork, Ireland, on the 9th August 1872, the daughter of Jeremiah “Jerry” and Johanna “Hannah” O’Neil (née Harrington). Her father was a farmer.
She immigrated to Butte, Montana, in the United States of America, perhaps around 1895, where she married John “Jack” J. Coughlan, who was from Goleen, County Cork, on 20th July 1905. Jack was a miner, and the couple established their home at 420. Pennsylvania Avenue, Butte. The couple had five children - James J., born in 1907, Catherine, born in 1908, John born in 1910, Margaret born in 1913 and Jeremiah Bernard born in 1913.
Unfortunately, their eldest daughter, Catherine, died two days after her birth, and their eldest son, James, died in January 1911, aged 3½ years.
In early 1915, the family decided to return to John’s home, which was at Corran More, Goleen, County Cork, Ireland, and therefore they sold all of their property and possessions in Butte, with the exception of a mining claim that John had, and set off for New York City.
By the 29th April 1915, the family had reached Fall River, Massachusetts, where Jack Coughlan purchased a third class ticket for passage from New York to Liverpool on board the
Lusitania, which was scheduled to sail from Pier 54 in New York harbour on the 1st May. Jack Coughlan purchased their ticket from Jeffrey E. Sullivan, who was an agent for the Cunard Steam Ship Co. Ltd. in Fall River, for $122.50, plus an additional revenue tax of $8.00, making a total cost to Jack Coughlan of $130.50.
On the morning of 1st May 1915, the Coughlan family arrived at Pier 54 and boarded the
Lusitania as third class passengers, with ticket number 26830. They had arrived there in time for the sailing, only to find that the liner’s departure was delayed until the afternoon as she had to embark passengers, crew and cargo from the Anchor Liner, Cameronia, which had been requisitioned by the British Admiralty for war work at the end of April.
The Lusitania finally left the port just after mid-day and just six days later, on the afternoon of 7th May; she was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine
U-20 off the coast of southern Ireland, only 250 miles away from her Liverpool destination.
When the ship was sunk, the family became separated and although Kate Coughlan and her two boys John and Bernard survived, her husband John and daughter Margaret were killed.
John Coughlan’s body was never recovered from the sea and identified afterwards but Margaret’s body was, and landed at Queenstown, where it was later buried in the Old Church Cemetery there.
A number of reports appeared in local newspapers about the family shortly after the disaster. The
Cork Examiner reported on the 11th May 1915: -
Wife and Two Children Saved from Lusitania
Tragic Fate of Husband and Child
Skibbereen, Wednesday
Mrs. John Coughlan, of Corranmore, Goleen, who with her husband and three children were passengers on the ill-fated Lusitania, passed her last night.
Her husband is not accounted for, and it is feared he is lost. She had with her two young children, and a third who was picked up dead at sea and conveyed to Queenstown, was brought to Goleen today for interment.
The family were coming home from America to take up the farm which was the ancestral home. A large number of bodies were seen floating off Glandore by fishermen who communicated through the Police with the Admiralty and the Cunard Co.
On the 15th May 1915, the Cork County Eagle reported: -
On Wednesday a pathetic sight was witnessed at the Railway station, Skibbereen, when the body of an infant passed through on the way to the burial ground of his ancestors at Goleen. The little coffin with the body was sent on by rail from Queenstown with a label addressed to Mrs. John Coughlan, Corran, Goleen.
The mother, with two of her children, survivors of the disaster, travelled by the 4.15p.m. train from Cork to Skibbereen on Tuesday. Of her husband who sailed with her and the three children on the Lusitania from America, there is no account.
The little coffin reached Schull at 2.30 o’clock on Wednesday and was taken by road to Goleen where interment was made.
In fact, Margaret Coughlan was not buried in Goleen, but was buried in Common Grave B, first row, upper tier, as body number 62. She was buried with body number 68, which was that of an unidentified young boy, aged about 2½ years.
In August 1915, Kate Coughlan made representations to The Mayor of New York’s Fund for The Relief of Lusitania Sufferers for financial help as the family was eligible for this fund, having lived in America. By this time she had already received a lump sum of £7-10s-0d, plus a pension of £0-14s-0d., (£0.70p.) per week for three months, from the British Lusitania Relief Fund, administered by The Lord Mayor of Liverpool. The New York Mayor’s Committee further awarded her $200.00 in respect of herself and her two dependants. By this time, she had settled back at Derrymihan East, Castletown Berehaven.
In February 1920, she sued The Cunard Steam Ship Company in a civil court action for damages for the loss of her husband, at Liverpool Assizes. Her case, put to the court on her behalf by Serjeant Sullivan, K.C. was based on the argument that: -
..... negligence was shown in unnecessarily exposing the vessel to submarine risks by disregarding Admiralty instructions as to navigation.
The Cunard argument, put through its counsel, Mr. Rigby Swift, K.C., however stated: -
I ask you to-day that the wickedness and criminality of the Hun alone was responsible for the catastrophe which sent so many brave men and women to their doom.
However, the verdict of the court was that The Cunard Steam Ship Company was not negligent in precipitating the sinking and Kate Coughlan received nothing in compensation for her loss and probably had to pay the costs of the case as well!
It is interesting to speculate how a third class passenger who had lost her only source of income, and who in 1915 had herself received financial help, was able to afford to bring such a case to court and it is likely that she was financially supported by someone else, perhaps to test the possibility of compensation for others.
Undeterred by this setback, she lodged a case with the Mixed Claims Commission in New York, after the War, for compensation for the loss of her husband on behalf of herself and her surviving children. Her brother, Cornelius O’Neil, a resident in Massachusetts, also lodged a claim. The case was decided in January 1925, and by this time Kate and her family continued to reside in Ireland. The Commission ruled that Kate had given up her American citizenship by remaining in Ireland, and therefore dismissed her claim. It also dismissed the claim by her brother. However, as both her surviving children had been born in America, and were therefore American citizens, each was awarded $2,500.00.
The Lusitania Relief Fund awarded Kate Coughlan the sum of £0-14s-0d. per week to assist her in raising her family, and at a meeting of the committee in December 1915, revised the award to £0-10s-0d per week to Mrs. Coughlan, and £0-2s-6d. for each of her children. It is unknown for how long these payments were made.
Ireland Select Births and Baptisms 1620 – 1911, Irish Catholic Parish Registers 1655 – 1915, Montana County Marriage Records 1865 – 1993, 1900 U.S. Federal Census, Cunard Records, Mixed Claims Commission Docket No. 2489, Liverpool Record Office, PRO BT 100/345, UniLiv D92/2/11, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Cork Examiner, Cork County Eagle, Southern Star, Liverpool Echo, The Anaconda Standard, Graham Maddocks, Dave Irving, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.