Irish Aboard Titanic by Senan Molony Read Free Book Online Page B

Buckley’s account in a letter to his mother composed three days after rescue:
    On board the Carpathia , 18 March [ sic ], 1912.
    Dear Mother,
    I am writing these lines on board the Carpathia , the ship that saved our lives. As I might not have much time when I get to New York, I mean to give you an account of the terrible shipwreck we had.
    At 11 p.m. on the 14th, our ship Titanic struck an iceberg and sank to the deep at 2.20 a.m. on the 15th. The present estimation is 1,500 lost, 710 saved. Thank God some of us are amongst the saved.
    Hannah Riordan, Brigie Bradley, Nonie O’Leary and the Shine girl from Lismore are all right.
    There is no account of Patie Connell (25), Michael Linehan from Freeholds, or Jim Connor, Hugh’s son, from Tureenavonacane. However I hope they were taken into some other ship.
    There were four of us sleeping in the same apartment. We had a bed of our own and in every apartment there were four lifebelts, one for each person. At the time when the ship got struck I heard a terrible noise. I jumped out of bed and told my comrades there was something wrong, but they only laughed.
    I turned on the light and to my surprise there was a small amount of water running along the floor. I had only just dressed myself when the sailors came along shouting ‘All up on deck, unless you want to get drowned!’
    We all ran up on deck. I thought to go down again to my room for a lifebelt and my little bag. When I was going down the last flight of stairs the water was up three steps so I did not go any further. I just thought of Dan Ring’s saying ‘stick to your lifebelts and face a tearing ocean’.
    We were not long on deck when the lifeboats were prepared. There were only sixteen boats and that amount was only enough to carry a tenth of the passengers. The third boat that was let down, I went on it. There were about forty men in it.
    We were only fifteen minutes in the boat when the big ship went down. It was a terrible sight. It would make the stones cry to hear those on board shrieking.
    It made a terrible noise like thunder when it was sinking. There were a great many Irish boys and girls drowned. I got out without any wound. There were a lot of men and women got wounded getting off the steamer.
    A good many died coming out on the lifeboats and after getting on the Carpathia. It was a great change to us to get on this strange steamer as we had a great time on the Titanic. We got a very good diet and we had a very jolly time dancing and singing.
    We had every type of instrument on board to amuse us, but all the amusement sank in the deep. I will write a note when I get to New York. Good-bye at present.
    Dannie
    Dannie was paid $100 in relief assistance by the American Red Cross. On 4 May 1912, he sent home a postcard of the Carpathia , telling his brother John: ‘I am sending you the picture of the ship that saved my life. Tell my mother to keep it and frame it. I hope she got better alright. I am getting on fine. Hoping ye are all well. Love to all. Dannie.’
    Buckley testified before the Senate inquiry into the disaster, the only Irish passenger to do so. Senator Smith, chairman of the subcommittee, took his evidence separately and the questions posed emanate from this source:
    This night of the wreck I was sleeping in my room on the Titanic, in the steerage. There were three other boys from the same place sleeping in the same room with me. I heard some terrible noise and I jumped out on the floor, and the first thing I knew my feet were getting wet; the water was just coming in slightly. I told the other fellows to get up, that there was something wrong and that the water was coming in. They only laughed at me. One of them says: ‘Get back into bed. You are not in Ireland now.’
    I got my clothes on as quick as I could, and the three other fellows got out. The room was very small, so I got out, to give them room to dress themselves. Two sailors came along, and they