Original subtitles

(somber music)

- [Woman] Dear cousin, I'm coming to America

on the nicest ship in the world.

Isn't that just splendid?

I'm coming with some of the nicest people in the world, too.

They live in Chicago,

and I should be able to make the entire trip with them.

They've told me all about Chicago,

and I know I should like it much better than I do Ireland.

Yours truly, Annie Kelly

- [Narrator] In April 1912,

14 people from the parish of Addergoole

in the west of Ireland

set sail to emigrate to America.

They were emigrating from poverty

to find a better life for themselves.

- They came from the one parish,

and they all left on the one day.

- [Narrator] Unfortunately for them,

they had the bad luck to step on board

the ill-fated steam liner,

the Ship of Dreams,

(horn bellows)

the RMS Titanic.

- The Addergoole Fourteen would've been among the poorest

to have boarded Titanic.

- [Narrator] 11 of the 14 died on Titanic.

Only three survived.

- That, from any one community,

had to have been the highest number.

I can't think of any that would've rivaled that,

from any other country.

- Grandma had said she recalls at first

that people were on deck picking up chunks of ice

that had scraped off from the iceberg,

putting it in their drinks

because it seems there were many parties and celebrations

going on at that hour of the night.

- Many of the survivors said at night,

they would have nightmares.

And what they would hear

is the screaming of the people in the water.

- [Narrator] And the tiny village they left behind

was so traumatized that they didn't speak

about the relatives they lost on Titanic

for almost 100 years, until now.

(somber music)

Addergoole is a small townland in north County Mayo

on the west coast of Ireland.

It's a remote but scenic area

situated between the shores of Lough Conn

and the foothills of Nephin.

At the heart of Addergoole

is the tiny village of Lahardane.

In 1912, the population of Lahardane

was only 96 people living in 22 houses.

- The Addergoole story was one of the most tragic

of the people's stories on Titanic.

And it was the numbers,

the numbers of people that were involved.

There were 14 young Irish people

from Addergoole parish and County Mayo.

Of the 14, all but three did not survive the disaster.

And this is a very, very high percentage of loss.

- [Narrator] The Addergoole Fourteen traveled together

in two main groups.

Catherine McGowan was related to Annie McGowan.

Catherine lived in America,

and had returned to Addergoole

to bring her niece Annie back with her.

While she was at home,

her tales of success in America

encouraged the 14 to travel together with her as a group.

- [Catherine] It's just fantastic.

- [Man] She traveled 'round recruiting more people to go.

She was obviously going to set them all up

in certain jobs in Chicago

if they came with her to Chicago.

And being as successful as she was,

she was always very enthusiastic about this adventure.

- Annie Kate Kelly, her friend Delia Mahon,

Nora Fleming, and Bridget Donohue

already had plans to emigrate to America,

but the prospect of traveling together

with Catherine McGowan meant safety in numbers.

Catherine Bourke was a close friend of Catherine McGowan's.

Catherine and her husband John were only married a year,

and had been childhood sweethearts.

They realized that their only hope

of living the life that they dreamed of together

was to emigrate.

- [Catherine] Dear Ellie, I suppose you've already heard

of the fit I've taken.

Well, I'll be sailing for America on the 11th of April

with Kate McGowan.

You'll be thinking I'm in terrible distress,

but no, I'm quite happy going.

When I sent you the shamrock I'd no notion of going,

no more than the man in the moon,

but made up me mind all in a minute.

I'm very short of time just now,

as I'm busy as ever I can be.

Kate McGowan is here.

I'm going to a funeral.

I must close.

With love to you from, Catherine Bourke.

PS, the name of the steamer I'm going on is called Titanic.

- [Narrator] Upon hearing of their plans,

John's sister Mary Bourke also decided to travel with them.

Mary Mangan was also a friend of Catherine McGowan.

She too lived in America,

and had returned to Addergoole to announce to her parents

the news of her engagement to be married.

(dramatic music)

Pat Canavan was 21 years of age,

a rugged West of Ireland lad.

He too was leaving Ireland in search of a better life.

He traveled with his friend James Flynn

and his cousin Mary Canavan,

who was also James's step-sister.

Mary Canavan's friend Delia McDermott traveled with them.

- [Man] They were the only group to go together,

all together, from a parish from any area in the country.

(gentle music)

- [Narrator] Ireland in 1912 was a very tough place to live.

It was a poverty-stricken country

where people lived under a cold, wet climate.

Large families of 10 or 12 people

were crammed into tiny, three-roomed houses.

Everyone was poor,

and every member of the family worked around the clock

just to survive.

It was literally a hand to mouth existence.

- They were difficult times.

There was no income 'round here.

It was a poor, impoverished area,

and the population were the same, poor and impoverished.

It was a hard, tedious mundane task to survive here,

for everyone here

- [Narrator] Because life was so tough,

communities were very close-knit,

and they depended on each other completely to survive.

Everybody knew each other well.

Whole communities worked together to save the hay

or bring in the turf.

It was this closeness that brought relief

to the hard lives they lived.

- They had no money, they just didn't have it,

they had barter,

and they were self-sufficient to the point

of you having a few cows

and growing some wheat and some vegetables.

Not an awful lot, though,

and that's how critical things were.

They lived in humble houses.

They were really grim, old, damp, cautious.

They were cold.

Because they weren't very well off,

and they weren't very well fed, and nutrition was very poor,

they died in their 40s, 50s, 60s of old age in those days,

or they died of consumption, TB,

which was rampant amongst communities at the time.

Cold, damp houses, turf fires, heavy smoke

was a huge environment for tuberculosis,

and they had TB without knowing it

- [Narrator] One small hitch such as a wet summer,

a bad harvest, or an illness could literally ruin a family.

(mournful flute music)

Because of this, emigration was rife.

- Oh yeah, like emigration was rampant, it was that,

from every townland they were leaving.

'Cause here was no work for them here,

and no prospects of work for them here at that time.

- [Narrator] Between 1850 and 1912,

over 4 million people had emigrated Ireland,

a huge figure considering the population was only 8 million.

Nearly every family in Ireland had a relative abroad.

(people chattering)

- Today's lesson, children,

days of the week in Gaeilge.

We did this yesterday.

- [Narrator] The education system was basic,

and outside of cities,

most people only received a primary education,

and many never finished primary school.

Emigrants left as young as 14.

School records across Ireland show the scratched-out names

of those marked, "Gone to the USA."

In fact, it became a fashion, a rite of passage.

Families would proudly and display

photographs and letters from America, England, Australia.

- Katie's boarding house, Michigan Avenue, Chicago.

- [Narrator] At this time, nearly every family in Ireland

had a relative abroad.

New laws meant that only one child in a family

could inherit the family land.

Most families had between six and twelve children.

This meant that the rest of the children,

once they came of age, had to find work elsewhere.

There was no work in Ireland, even in the cities,

especially for poor, uneducated country men and women.

Marriage or emigration was the only option.

Newspapers carried dozens of ads every day

prompting people to travel on the fastest,

the largest, the most luxurious of liners.

The shipping lines competed aggressively for business,

as steerage was where the companies

made their greatest profits.

Ticket agents roamed the countryside,

knocking on doors with brochures,

persuading people of the better life they could have abroad.

- [Man In Coat] Here to sell her her ticket to America.

- [Narrator] And those who could afford to go

went in their droves.

- The girls left more than the fellas left.

Because there's no employment for girls 'round here at all.

You always sent your daughter to America, if you could.

And if you could, you tried to go to America, not England,

'cause it was rough in England at the time.

But if you got to America, you were well made,

and if you got your daughter to America,

that was the best thing you could ever do as a father.

(dramatic music)

- [Narrator] The price of a ticket in third class on Titanic

was just over seven pounds sterling.

This is the equivalent of about 700 pounds sterling

in today's money.

But in 1912, it would take at least three years

for the average Irish family to save this.

To them, it was a fortune.

- The Addergoole Fourteen couldn't've afforded it,

and their parents couldn't afford it either.

So thus, remittances, money coming back from America,

which brought the next generation over.

And the remittances was a huge phenomenon at the time.

The money was coming back from those abroad.

And that's how this area survived,

and that's what got the 14 over.

The 14 of them headed off from the village here

and got on, as bad luck would have it, Titanic.

(somber music)

- [Narrator] While the Addergoole Fourteen

were planning their new lives in America,

only 100 miles away in Belfast,

construction had started on what was to be

the greatest ship in the world.

This was the ship that should have taken

the Addergoole Fourteen to their dreams,

but instead took them to their graves.

Construction began on the Titanic in 1907.

It took three years to build.

At the time, it revolutionized sea travel,

as it was the largest, fastest,

and most luxurious ocean-going steam liner ever built.

It was the first ship that was guaranteed unsinkable.

Titanic cost 1.5 million pounds sterling to build.

In today's money, that's 400 million pounds.

Harland and Wolff employed 15,000 people during this period,

with such a massive weekly payroll

the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast

became the biggest private employer in Ireland at that time.

(gentle music)

- [Woman] Dear Annie, I hope this letter finds you well.

I am writing to let you know that I will be

returning to Ireland for a holiday in a few weeks,

and I'm so looking forward to meeting you.

I hope that you will be returning to America with me.

It's a lovely place to live.

There are lots of opportunities in America.

Jobs are plentiful.

Yours faithfully, your loving aunt, Catherine McGowan.

- 14 was a considerable number.

In contrast, when people left in ones and twos,

they left all together as 14,

probably orchestrated by one person amongst them all,

Catherine McGowan.

- [Narrator] Catherine was the perfect example

of a successful emigrant.

She had made it big in Chicago,

having set up a boarding house providing room and board

to the newly arrived Chicago immigrants.

She was a rich entrepreneur,

and had returned to Ireland

to escort her niece Annie to Chicago.

- [Annie] Dear Auntie, I'm really looking forward

to going to America.

I'm very glad that you are coming to collect me.

I'm looking forward to the opportunities ahead of me,

and hopefully, with your help,

I'll be able to find some work.

Yours, Annie McGowan.

- [Narrator] When she returned to Addergoole,

she returned a very different lady

from the girl who had emigrated 22 years previously.

Catherine was now a wealthy woman,

and returned dressed in finery and loaded with money

and tales of the opportunities and riches

that could be found in Chicago.

Catherine knew all of the 14,

and actively persuaded them

to travel together with her to America.

She told them stories of broad streets, jobs aplenty,

and lives beyond their wildest dreams.

One by one she persuaded them all to travel together

at the same time on the same ship.

- I'm related to Annie McGowan.

When Annie finished school,

she was in contract with her aunt, Catherine McGowan.

The 14 would be very much excited,

because they all had the same expectations

as Catherine McGowan told them about.

They probably thought that they could

attain the same status as Catherine McGowan

by going to America.

(somber music)

- [Narrator] The week of the 8th of April, 1912,

there were 14 wakes held in houses

across the townland of Addergoole.

There were 14 deaths to be honored.

These weren't real deaths or real wakes,

but American wakes.

(people cheering)

(lively Irish music)

Ireland has always had lots of customs and traditions.

One of these was the tradition of the American wake.

When emigrants were leaving to go to America,

their family and friends would hold a symbolic wake.

Emigrating was like a death.

A person who emigrated in these times

would most likely never see their family or friends again.

Most emigrants, bar the lucky few,

never returned to Ireland once they left.

(melancholy wordless singing)

These were very emotional affairs, and bittersweet.

Very sad for the family of a person leaving,

and for the person themselves,

but also the prospects of a better life were exciting.

(singing in foreign language)

(people cheering and applauding)

(light music)

When Titanic was launched in 1911,

the White Star Line made a point of not christening the ship

or blessing it with the customary,

"May God bless her and all who sail in her."

This caused huge consternation.

At that time around Europe,

it was considered unlucky to travel on any maiden voyage,

and this act strengthened this feeling.

- Many very superstitious, the Irish included,

looked upon this to a certain extent as flaunting God,

saying God couldn't sink this ship.

- Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee,

blessed art thou amongst women and blessed are the fruit-

- [Narrator] Wherever in the world there is poverty,

there is religion, and Ireland in 1912 was no different.

Because life here was so precarious,

the Irish were very religious.

They were also very superstitious.

- [Robert] There was a lot of forewarnings

about sailing on Titanic.

Delia McDermott, for one,

had had an experience about this herself.

- Only a few days before Delia left on Titanic,

a stranger stopped her on the road one evening

when she was returning home with friends.

He told her that she'd be making a journey in a few days,

and that there'd be a terrible tragedy,

that hundreds would die, but she would be saved.

- Other family members of Addergoole people

also had psychic forewarning, so to speak.

- [Narrator] The night before she left,

Delia Mahon's brother read her tea leaves,

and allegedly told her

there would be a terrible disaster on her journey,

and that she would die.

- But these weren't strong enough, I guess,

to keep the people from sailing.

(somber music)

- [Narrator] The day before

the Addergoole Fourteen left Ireland,

they spent their final hours preparing, packing,

and with family

Mary Mangan spent this time with her parents,

before going back to America to get married

and start a new life.

Catherine and John Bourke

were also preparing for a new life.

They were expecting their first baby,

which would be born in America.

They were full of plans and hope

for their new life and family.

Delia McDermott's mother told her

that to be a lady in America, she had to wear a hat,

that all ladies wore hats there.

She told her that to be a real American lady,

one must arrive in New York wearing a hat and gloves.

The day before Delia left,

her mother took her to Hickson's shop in Crossmolina

to buy her first hat and gloves.

Bridget O'Donohue worked in the local shop.

The day before she left,

the three-year-old daughter of the shop owner

asked Bridget to send her back a ring from New York.

To get the sizing right,

Bridget measured the little girl's finger

with a piece of string.

James Flynn spent the afternoon with his sister,

who was upset at his leaving.

She had been deaf since birth,

and James was the only one of her family or friends

that could sign with her.

He promised he'd sent her a ticket for her passage

once he got to New York.

(lively music)

When Titanic was launched and in the water,

she had the most expensive fitting out of any ship.

The facilities were state of the art.

A heated swimming pool,

a gym completed with multi gym machines,

rowing machines, and spinning machines.

The famous grand staircase was hand-built

from oak and mahogany by Belfast's master craftsmen.

Because steerage class was where the shipping companies

made their greatest profits,

the White Star Line decided that Titanic

would revolutionize this class.

Steerage on Titanic was real luxury.

It wasn't called steerage, it was called third class,

and third class on Titanic

was like second class on most other ships,

and even as good as first class on some ships.

The finished ship was resplendent, sleek, and elegant,

deemed the largest and fastest ship in the world.

All the Titanic needed now, a crew and passengers.

(somber music)

On the morning of April 10th, 1912,

the Addergoole Fourteen made their way

to Castlebar train station.

Goodbyes were emotional.

They faced a 14-hour journey to County Cork to meet Titanic,

which was now preparing to leave Southampton, England.

When the 14 reached Castlebar train station,

they were excited, but nervous.

This was final, and they were now leaving home.

- 14 tickets to Queenstown.

(train whistles)

- Conditions were fantastic on board third class on Titanic.

The accommodations on Titanic were unbelievable

in third class for these people.

- [Narrator] For the Addergoole Fourteen,

the experience of being on Titanic was amazing.

It was the first time they saw electric lights,

the first time they had the luxury of a bed to themselves.

It was the first time they had proper washing

and toilet facilities.

It was the first time they had experienced silver cutlery,

linen napkins, and tablecloths.

- The people really appreciated this.

I mean, they were using it.

They were using the facilities that were available to them,

and certainly enjoying the food that in many cases

was probably the best meals they'd ever had.

- Having got on board Titanic,

it must've was extraordinary experience,

because here was the greatest liner ever built at the time.

Third class on Titanic was extraordinary high standards

by comparison to other ships sailing over and back.

Our 14 from Addergoole would never have seen

luxuries like these,

even though they were traveling in steerage class.

- This ship was the most luxurious ship in existence.

The largest, the safest, and it was unsinkable.

- [Narrator] The three days the Addergoole Fourteen

spent aboard the Titanic

were among the best days of their lives,

and life aboard Titanic reinforced their expectations

of what their new lives in America would be like for them.

(metal clanging)

- Annie Kate Kelly was my aunt.

She was in bed when somebody woke her up and said,

"The Titanic is sinking."

She thought they were teasing her.

But then somebody else came and they said,

"Oh yeah, you've gotta get out."

(people chattering)

- [Narrator] When Titanic hit the iceberg,

the Addergoole Fourteen were in different parts of the ship.

Some were in their cabins, others were at a party.

The impact wasn't felt by everyone.

In fact, the shudder was so slight

(ship banging)

that many people on the ship didn't even feel it.

So everyone was calm and orderly.

Nobody thought the ship was in any danger.

- Grandma had said she recalls at first

that people were on deck kicking up chunks of ice

that had scraped off from the iceberg,

putting it in their drinks,

because it seems there were many parties

and celebrations going on at that hour of the night.

And most likely she probably considered there was no danger.

(lively music)

- [Robert] Up until the disaster itself,

these people were having a great time.

They were having fun.

They were doing things together.

They were singing, they were dancing.

When the Titanic hit the iceberg,

this was 20 minutes to 12:00.

♪ I should rise and you ♪

Nora Fleming was celebrating her birthday,

and she was singing on this fateful day.

- [Narrator] The stewards had told the Addergoole Fourteen

that there was nothing to worry about,

that they were to stay in steerage,

and above all, stay calm.

They were told that they would receive further instruction

as soon as possible.

Nora Fleming kept singing to help the situation,

and to help keep people at ease.

♪ And you should not ♪

As time went on, however,

the Addergoole Fourteen became more and more anxious.

Stress began to increase and pressure began to show.

However, they did their best to stay calm

like they were told to by the stewards.

- And I think that lasted so long until

they saw the slant of the ship, the way it was sinking.

(people shouting)

And that's where the panic started.

(people shouting)

And despite the panic,

the Addergoole group seemed very organized in this.

The men came to find the women,

and realized, "We have to get out of here.

We have to find a way to the lifeboat."

- The people in steerage class weren't given access

to the upper decks to get the boats.

You could not get access to second class

or first class from steerage.

You had to go through gates and barrier,

and they were kept that way

and they were manned by crew

who told to keep 'em down below until we have order.

(people chattering)

- They knew from the beginning

that there weren't enough lifeboats

for at least 1,000 people that were on board that ship.

But, it was even worse,

because the lifeboats were set up in such a way

that the first eight lifeboats

were on first class deck space.

Now no other class was allowed in that area.

So those first eight boats went off

with almost entirely first class people.

The Addergoole group was very organized.

The men got the women together,

and they started working up the decks,

and the only way to do that,

till you got to the uppermost deck,

was by literally putting women in your hands

and boosting them up onto the next deck.

So literally, you had three or four decks

you had to ascend to get to the boat deck.

And it was only the last one that there was a stairway

that could be used to get onto the boat deck itself.

It has to be called heroic, I think.

(people screaming)

- [Narrator] When the Addergoole group

got to the lifeboat decks,

there were only three lifeboats left.

In the panic, the group lost each other in the crowd.

(people screaming)

- I'm not leaving without you, please!

- [Narrator] Catherine and Mary Bourke

each got a place on a lifeboat,

but when John Bourke was refused access,

both Catherine and Mary got out of the lifeboat

to stay with him.

(people screaming)

Annie Kate Kelly was put on a lifeboat in their place.

- [Annie Kate] I should not have been saved,

except for Mrs. Bourke's refusal to leave her husband.

I looked up, and saw my cousin watching,

holding in his hands his rosary beads,

which he raised to bless me.

He was among the many that went down with the ship.

- [Narrator] On the other side of Titanic,

Delia McDermott had got on a lifeboat.

Then the most extraordinary thing happened.

- Delia, what are you doing? - What are you doing?

Come back! - Come back here!

- Delia, this is silly! - Don't!

- [Narrator] She realized she had left her hat behind her.

She got off the lifeboat

and returned back into steerage of Titanic to get her hat.

(people screaming)

When she got back on deck, all the lifeboats had gone.

She then lowered herself down a rope and jumped 15 feet

into the last lifeboat that was being lowered away.

And she survived.

- The hat was something that was so important to her.

It was the one thing that she had, that she valued,

that she wanted to bring to America.

I'm sure she thought,

"I won't be able to afford another one like that

when I get to America, and I cannot chance it.

So I'll take the chance,

and I'll go back and see if I can get it."

And most likely not realizing

the dangerous situation that she was in.

- [Narrator] On another part of the ship,

Annie McGowan also managed to get a place on a lifeboat

- I'm related to Annie McGowan.

She remembered being grabbed,

"Get in the lifeboat, get in the lifeboat."

And she was scared because

she didn't know what was happening with her aunt.

And she remembered hearing husbands and wives

not wanting to be separated, screaming.

She remembered when she was in the lifeboat

that a man tried to get in the boat and said,

"If you don't let me in, I'm gonna tip over the whole boat."

So they let him in the lifeboat.

But her biggest concern was for her aunt

and what had happened to her aunt.

And I believe, in the lifeboat, they tried to reassure her,

and tell her that her aunt was on the next lifeboat,

but she never ended up hearing what happened.

(thunder booms)

(somber music with wordless singing)

(people screaming)

All of a sudden she said it just busted in half,

and she thought a boiler had broke

and that's what caused it,

and that's when she said

you really heard a lot of screaming.

(people screaming)

- [Robert] The lights completely go out,

so it's pitch black.

And then you hear the screams.

(people screaming)

- [Annie] That's when the screaming started.

It was terrible.

The saltwater and the wind made my eyes bleed.

The screams of the passengers left on the decks

drifted over the water.

(people screaming)

(somber music with wordless singing)

(people screaming)

- It was horrible.

Horrible noise, horrendous noise, unforgettable noise.

And don't forget the cries and appeals

and people who are drowning.

(people screaming)

Those who actually entered the water,

when you land in the water,

the temperature was zero to one degree.

Most of 'em wouldn't be able to swim, for a start.

If they wore life jackets,

you can't swim with the life jacket on you,

you float like a cork.

The more you struggle, the worse it becomes for you,

'cause you use up all your energy and you get cold rapidly.

You last about 14, 15 minutes,

and then you slip into unconsciousness.

And you're dead within about 20 minutes.

- [Robert] Very few people

that ended up in the water were survivors.

You're talking about maybe two dozen at most.

And the reason being the water was so cold.

People did not die by drowning, as many people think.

Most of them had life belts on.

They were above the level of the water

and the water was pretty clear that night, pretty calm.

The water was so cold, they died of hypothermia,

and died probably within 10 or 15 minutes at most

of the time they went in the water.

(somber music with wordless singing)

- There were just a few stars out, there was no moon.

So they drowned in the darkness,

which is worse again.

So it was a horrible end for all the 1,500 drowned.

(gentle music)

- [Narrator] Of the Addergoole Fourteen,

only three survived Titanic,

Annie Kate Kelly, Annie McGowan,

and Delia McDermott.

On arrival in New York,

they were taken to St. Vincent's Hospital,

where they remained for two weeks.

All three were badly traumatized and very weak.

- Most of them got very good treatment

from the hospital staff.

They were kind of special people

because of what had happened to them.

But that wasn't necessarily true

of the representatives of the White Star Line.

- Annie Kate Kelly was my great aunt.

The doctor was quoted as saying

he didn't think she would survive.

Every time she closed her eyes,

she would relive the tragedy all over again.

She couldn't eat, she couldn't drink.

(people screaming)

She was just distraught.

Which was real contrast from the way I knew her.

I knew her as a very, you know, forthright kinda person,

very witty, and with tremendous strength of character.

(people screaming)

- My mother was very, very stressed out,

and according to her two aunts,

they couldn't even talk about the incident at all,

that she was very, very sick.

- Delia McDermott was my grandmother.

She came on the Titanic with two girlfriends

and both of them perished.

She was so traumatized by the sinking of the Titanic

that anything that would remind her of it

would cause her a lot of anguish.

- As these people were recovering at St. Vincent's Hospital,

the White Star Line representatives

very definitely took advantage of these people

when they were ill,

when they were not thinking properly,

when they were in hysterics,

and would go into the rooms and have them sign papers.

And the papers basically said

that they would settle with the White Star Line for $25,

no matter how much they'd lost on board,

no matter what kind of injuries they had had.

In other words, they were signing off

everything to the White Star Line

that they could've sued for later for $25.

- Annie, Annie, we're from the White Star Line.

We need you to sign this.

It's for your ticket to Chicago.

- [Robert] Annie Kate Kelly was a very good example of this.

This happened to her.

She did sign the papers, and she did get $25,

and that was the extent of what she got for her belongings

and the ordeal she'd been through.

(tense music)

- Mary Mangan did not survive the Titanic.

Her body was discovered on April 22nd.

It was the 61st body to be retrieved from the water,

and it was easily identified because of the jewelry

that had been found in her effects.

In particular, there was a gold watch

with her picture inside,

and her name was engraved inside, M. Mangan,

and also engraved on the outside, M. Mangan.

She had her engagement ring that was listed in her effects,

but later on, there was a notation added

that there no ring in effects.

So the ring went missing at some stage,

it was never returned to the family.

Her body was buried at sea,

her clothing was buried with her,

and they returned her personal effects to the family.

The reason that they buried some at sea and not others

was because some of the bodies were too decomposed and,

you know, would be difficult for embalming.

There were still bodies being found floating

till as late as June 1912, the same year.

- [Narrator] The bodies of the remaining 10

of the Addergoole group, Delia Mahon,

Mary Canavan, Pat Canavan, Catherine McGowan,

John Bourke, Catherine Bourke, Mary Bourke,

James Flynn, Nora Fleming,

and Bridget O'Donohue,

were never found.

(prayers overlapping)

- Hail Mary, full of grace, the lord is with thee.

- They didn't know in Lahardane for a whole week

what had happened.

They got wind after five days,

but the information was inaccurate, for a start,

and it was exaggerated,

and then they couldn't get the proper story.

No one knew who drowned and who survived.

And then eventually the authorities

had the names and numbers in New York.

So it would've taken maybe eight, nine days

for the news to come back to a household

that their son, their daughter had not made it to America.

- When the news came, the pain was insufferable,

and they could do nothing about it.

They had no body.

They had no grave to go to.

It is very well described what happened.

Pictures being put of the people on the beds.

They were white, snow white quilts.

And you could imagine all the crying

and the neighbors coming.

The pain was always there.

They went with that pain.

They died with that pain.

The important thing was to make a new life

and get on with it, which they all did.

They all made a new life.

(gentle music)

- [Man] Gram, and Mom and Dad.

Had to be at my sister's wedding, I'm sure.

Here, Anne McGowan,

baptized on July 9th, 1897,

date of birth, July 5th.

However, remember the stories that she used to tell?

Born at the stroke of midnight,

so we got to celebrate her birthday on July 4th.

- She's the only person

born between the fourth and the fifth.

What that means, I never could- (laughs)

(group laughs)

That's the truth.

- Annie McGowan was my grandmother.

There's close to 100 of us that would not be here

if she had not survived the Titanic.

- Annie McGowan was my mother.

And when she came here,

all she had was a nightgown, slippers, and a coat.

She was sick for quite a while,

and they were afraid that she would lose her mind

if it was constantly brought up.

And then of course her aunt had died on the ship.

But once she started going on with her life

and she got over the initial shock of

the experience, I mean I don't think

you ever really get over it,

but she led a normal life.

And then she went to secretarial school and she got a job.

And shortly after that, she met my dad and they got married.

She had three girls.

My sister Fran, my sister Jackie, and myself.

My mother was a very strong lady,

a very feisty, determined person.

When she made up her mind to do something, she did it,

nothing was gonna get in her way,

she was gonna get it done.

She didn't like something, she told you. (laughs)

I discovered her newspapers in a drawer

when I was a teenager.

She had the original newspapers

about the sinking of the Titanic in the drawer.

And she never ever talked about it prior to that.

And I asked my mother about it, and she said,

"Just put that away and never mind, don't talk about it."

And the next I heard was just before I got married,

and we discovered that this was true,

she was really on the Titanic,

but she still would not talk about it.

Growing up, she was terrified of the water.

My mother never went into the water, ever.

Never wanted us to go in the water either.

(gentle music)

- Delia McDermott was my grandmother.

Delia has 34 descendants,

and 30 of them are alive right now.

Delia married my grandfather, John Lynch,

and he was a Galway man.

She met him and married him in America,

and they lived in Jersey City,

and he worked on the Central Jersey Railroad his whole life.

They had three children.

Delia was just a very quiet person, very reserved.

- She never initiated conversations.

I can picture her

sitting in her rocking chair in the kitchen,

and I also picture her with her rosary beads.

She was always praying.

- She ran a boarding house where she lived on Union Street.

She would be up early, she'd attend daily mass,

and she would tend to her home.

She was a real homebody.

My grandmother never spoke about the Titanic,

and I learned from an early age on

not to ask her about the Titanic.

Perhaps it's a feeling of anybody

who survives a disaster where others have lost their lives,

and you wonder, "Why did God spare me?"

Especially for her,

after she got herself up out of a lifeboat

and was able to get back into a second lifeboat,

which was amazing because I'm sure

by the time she got into the second lifeboat,

there were people struggling to find lifeboats

and to get into one,

and she was fortunate enough to get into one

40 minutes before it sank.

She never spoke about going home again.

(somber music)

- Annie Kate Kelly lived with her sisters.

I think she was there for a time

before she was able to pull herself together and,

you know, get out and get a job, you know?

I probably saw her very regularly once I came here.

- [Narrator] Annie Kate Kelly lived and worked in Chicago

as a milliner for nine years.

Then, as a direct result of her experiences on Titanic,

she completely changed the direction of her life.

(solemn music)

- [Man] Annie Kate Kelly always questioned

why she was saved when so many others,

wealthier, better equipped in life, didn't survive.

And she always felt a calling,

and ended up giving her life to the lord

and became a nun,

and was a teaching nun for most of her life.

- Sister Patrick Joseph, she took my father's name.

He was Patrick Joseph also.

She said, "Well, I decided if I

wanted to make a life for myself,

I had to put the Titanic behind me and move on." (laughs)

She taught in many of the grammar schools

in the Chicago area.

She was a very straitlaced lady,

very fond of her family and very into her students.

A lot of young people actually kept in touch with her,

those whom she had taught, until she died.

(gentle music)

- [Narrator] The village of Lahardane in Ireland

still feels pain of the Titanic tragedy 100 years on.

The story of the Addergoole Fourteen nearly died completely

with the last generation in Lahardane.

The pain of their loss was so intense

that the villagers stopped talking about it completely.

- There was bitterness around the area afterwards,

and then people stopped talking about it,

deliberately stopped talking about it.

Firstly 'cause it broke their hearts,

for it disturbed them greatly, having lost somebody.

Secondly, there was a possibility there was money owed,

and somebody may have come looking for owed money,

and it got bitter.

And then they stopped talking about it.

And that's why the story suddenly began to disappear.

And that's why it wasn't known about a generation later.

- [Narrator] Because of this,

a lot of documented evidence of the 14

was lost over the years.

However, in the last decade, the people of Addergoole

have begun to talk about this history again.

In recent years, they have begun to embrace this legacy.

They are now actively recovering this history,

and there's evidence of this

all around the village of Lahardane.

In the last decade,

the people of Lahardane have been busy traveling

and communicating with people around the world,

collecting, rebuilding, and archiving the documents

and records of the Addergoole Fourteen.

- This is Mary Mangan's watch,

which was recovered from the Titanic.

It was found around Mary's neck on a chain.

At the back here, then,

I've got the inscriptions of Mary Mangan,

and she was probably just looking at it for the times

for the train.

Thinking, "How long have I got left

before we get to the Titanic?"

The watch stopped at 20 past 2:00.

It stopped when the Titanic sank into the water.

We know that Mary Mangan

would have gone into the water at that time.

It's just amazing to have it.

- [Narrator] Relatives and residents

with an interest in the Titanic

are constantly working in different ways

to commemorate the Addergoole Fourteen.

- [Man] Obviously we want to include the ship sinking.

You can see the stern of the ship.

- [Narrator] But the most intriguing

of all Lahardane's commemorations

takes place here every April.

(gentle music)

On the 14th of April at 2:00 AM,

a candlelit procession slowly winds its way

through the village to the local church.

Here, a ceremony is held.

This is a ritual created by the people of Lahardane

to unite the community

and help them to tell their story together.

The story of how 14 of their ancestors

left this village 100 years ago

to seek hope and a better life in America,

but never got there.

At exactly 2:20 AM,

the time Titanic finally disappeared into the sea,

the relatives of the Addergoole Fourteen

ring the church bell for each of the 14.

The people of Addergoole are telling their story once again.

(bell ringing)

(gentle music)