Kate Connolly (died)

[Magda Natalia Piotrowska]

Does anyone know something about Miss Kate Connolly. She was 3rd class passenger and died in the disaster. I need any informations about her life before Titanic's disaster.
Thanks

 

[Bob Godfrey]

There were actually two 3rd Class passengers with the same name of Katherine Connolly, only one of whom survived. The Katherine who died (and was better known as Katie) was from Tipperary. She left behind a widowed mother (also called Katherine), an older sister Margaret, who suffered from tuberculosis and earned a little money from giving music lessons, and two younger brothers - Edward (a knife sharpener) and Richard (a porter). All of the Connollys had reached middle age, but none, it seemed, were earning adequate wages.

It's not entirely clear whether Katie was going to America for the first time, or returning after a visit home to Ireland, but in either case her intention was at least partly to earn money to help support her family, who received payments after her death from both the American Red Cross and the British Relief Committee.

 

[Magda Natalia Piotrowska]

Thanks for informations Bob!
How old was she in 1912? 30, 32, 35?
How much money received Katie's family?

 

[Bob Godfrey]

As far as I know, Katie was 35 when she died. Her family received £40 from the Relief Committee in England. The American Red Cross offered a sum equivalent to the price of Katie's ticket (about £8) to the person who had paid for it, a cousin living in America, who agreed that this money also should be sent to the family in Ireland.

Madga, why are you interested in this passenger? Is there a personal connection?

 

[Magda Natalia Piotrowska]

Thanks very much, Bob. Maybe Katie Connolly is my friend's relative. She's Grace Connolly.
Was Katie born in Ballynarry, Co. Cavan?
Did she have a family in Dobbs Ferry, New York?
Did her brothers marry?

 

[Bob Godfrey]

Katie's destination was Dobbs Ferry, specifically the home of J Bunbury. Maybe this was the relative (a second cousin) who paid for her ticket. Katie and her family lived at 40, Bank Place, Tipperary Town, County Tipperary, but I am not sure if Katie was born there. The OTHER Katherine Connolly (the one who survived) was born in County Cavan, at Curtrasna. I know nothing more about the brothers.

Does Grace have any more information? And where does she live - USA or Ireland?

 

[Magda Natalia Piotrowska]

Grace lived in New York. Her grandfather said her that his cousin died in Titanc's disaster. Maybe she was Katie Connolly.
Do you know:
What was Katie's job?
Where can I find her photo?
What was her father first name?
Did other Titanic's passengers say something about Katie after the disaster?

 

[Bob Godfrey]

Sorry, Magda, I don't have anything more. In the passenger list compiled for the Board of Trade there is a column for 'occupation', but Katie is listed simply as 'spinster' (unmarried woman). Many of the Irish girls travelling to New York in 3rd Class were hoping to find work as housemaids, but that's only a guess. Senan Molony's book The Irish Aboard Titanic (the source of most of this information) has no photograph of Katie, which probably means there are none available.

On the Titanic she shared a cabin with at least two other Irish girls, Katie Peters and Katie McCarthy. It seems that she knew the other Katies even before the voyage, and that they were travelling as a group from Tipperary along with a young man called Roger Tobin. Katie McCarthy, who survived, later stated that when all three girls were urged by Roger Tobin to go to the boat deck the other two decided to stay behind in the cabin, as they were not convinced there was any danger. Perhaps they were still there when the ship went down - their bodies were never found.

 

[Magda Natalia Piotrowska]

Thanks very much, Bob!!!!!!!!
Your informations are very interesting!!!!

 

[Magda Natalia Piotrowska]

Was Katie's body still may be in the Titanic's wreck?
Did Titanic's stewards never release any 3rd class passengers?
It's terrible!

 

[Bob Godfrey]

After 91 years in the water there is nothing left of the bodies - except sometimes their boots and shoes. A lot 3rd Class passengers died because they didn't know the way to the boat deck, not because they were locked below decks. If 3rd Class passengers had not been allowed to go to the lifeboats, Katie McCarthy would not have survived. Katie Peters and Katie Connolly could have gone with her and probably also would have been saved, but they chose to stay in their cabin and died. Roger Tobin died because he was a man, not because he was 3rd Class. Most of the men in 1st Class also died.

Magda, did your friend's family live in Dobbs Ferry? Does she know the name Bunbury? What was her Grandfather's name?

 

[Magda Natalia Piotrowska]

Sorry for my ignorance. I've seen 3rd class's situation yet. Poor Katie didn't believe that "unsinkable" ship was sinking.
My friend's family lived in Dobbs Ferry longtime ago but now she lived in other place. Grace didn't know any Bunbury. Her grandfather name is
Brian Connolly. He arrived to New York with her parents probably in 1919 but Grace isn't sure.
Do you know what were Katie's birthday month and day?
Were the Bunbury family Katie's closely relatives?

 

[Bob Godfrey]

I haven't seen an exact date of birth for Katie. The passenger list prepared for the American Inquiry records that she was 'going to J Bunbury, Dobbs Ferry'. Maybe this was her employer, or maybe a relative - perhaps the second cousin who paid for her ticket. That's all I know right now, but I may have some more information in a few days. Maybe!

 

[Magda Natalia Piotrowska]

Thanks, Bob! If you find more informations about Katie Connolly please send them to me!

 

[Magda Natalia Piotrowska]

Does anyone know when did Katie McCarthy die?????