Athenry’s Titanic tragedy still hard to comprehend

Source: Tuam Herald, Wednesday April 11, 2018

Brothers are last first generation relatives of Andy Keane, the drowned hurler

Two elderly brothers in Athenry, whose uncle was one of those to perish with
the sinking of the Titanic, say the legacy of the disaster has been hard to comprehend despite the passing of time.

Andy Keane was only 23 when he lost his life aboard the ill-fated ship when it struck an iceberg on April 15, 1912. His relatives in Rathmorrissey only realised the full extent of  his story when the centenary anniversary of the sinking came around in 2012.

Martin and Tom Keane’s father Michael was Andy’s older brother. Both were county hurling champions with their club Derrydonnell, having lifted the title in Tuam in 1911. A year later, Andy’s decision to make a new life alongside his sisters in Massachusetts was one that would prove fatal.

The keen sportsman had secured the fare for his passage from his older sister Ellie and among the possessions he packed for his new life included his county medal, his melodeon and a dozen hurleys, which he intended to use to set up a hurling club in his new home.

The hurleys he brought with him were made by Larkins in Killimor, which continues to manufacture hurleys today.

Despite suggestions that some were recovered and are on display in a museum in Canada, Tom and Martin say they’ve never had such rumours confirmed.

Speaking from his home in Rathmorrissey, Martin said the family rarely discussed the tragedy in their younger years.

“We were always aware of what had happened but it wasn’t something our father discussed,” he said.

“All we know for certain is that Andy brought a dozen hurleys, his melodeon and his county medal with him when he boarded the ship for a journey he would never
complete.

“I suppose times were different back then and they didn’t talk a lot about it for the sadness it brought. Our mother was diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1948 and passed
away in 1953 so he had a hard time raising the family on his own, there was no time for dwelling on the past.”

However, when the centenary of the sinking came around, interest levels rose and led to the Keane family learning a little more of their connection with those who had lost their lives in the Atlantic on that cold April night.

“We are one of the few families left with a direct link to those on the ship and when we visited the Titanic Centre in Belfast a few years ago it was hard to take in.”

Tom said that when they reflect on the tragedy of losing Andy so young, it was in the context of the major historical events he never lived to see.

“Had he left and arrived over there safely he’d have missed the likes of the 1916 Rising and the War of Independence anyway, but had he not gone in the first place you’d
wonder what might have happened to him here at home,” he said.

“He was going over to his sisters Mary and Ellie Ann who were in Massachusetts; they had sent him the fare to travel. He went into Mahon Travel Agents in Athenry and they tried to get him to take a different boat but for whatever reason he settled on the Titanic.”

Andy’s remains were never recovered although Martin’s daughter did visit a cemetery in Newfoundland to see if she could locate any memorial to her uncle.

“Teresa travelled to Newfoundland shortly after she finished college when she went
to live and work in Canada for a year. She did find a cemetery with a plaque bearing names of some of the Titanic victims but she couldn’t find his name.”

Martin’s wife Mary has immortalised the family’s Titanic connections with a replica model she started making long before the 2012 centenary celebrations came around.
“I started it back in 2000 with the help of a weekly periodical magazine that provided the parts,” she said.

“It took three years to complete and a friend of mine, Sean Wallace, helped finish it off but it’s a lovely addition to the house, and is displayed in a glass cabinet made especially for it.”

Andy’s memory was also celebrated publicly last year when Tuam playwright Patricia King Callaghan brought her play The Crossing to the Taibhdhearc theatre in Galway. It was loosely based on their uncle’s story, so Martin and Tom attended the play in Galway and were delighted by the powerful story that began as a one act play performed at the Three Rings Festival in Tuam a year earlier.

The public reaction to the play was so positive that Patricia wrote a second act which led to The Crossing receiving rave reviews during its Taibhdhearc run.

“We’re really only learning about our own uncle through the events and commemorations that have taken place in recent years and to see his story inspire such a wonderful play was very powerful,” added Martin.

The family were also guests at a Marian Choral Society production of The Titanic in 2010, which also alluded to Andy’s fate on board the ship, and meant a lot to the family.

“The interest and acknowledgement from people over the past number of years in
particular has been lovely and shows the human side to such a tragedy,” added Martin.

“We’re the last surviving first generation family members so it means a lot to have Andy’s memory preserved for further generations to come.”