Letters To Cobh Edition – Inspired By Visit To Cobh Heritage Centre

I thought the people of Cobh might want to know what your lovely museum in Cobh Heritage Centre inspired me to do after my visit there in July of 2011

Introduction- The Titanic O’Briens

While visiting the Cobh Heritage Centre during my trip to Ireland in July of 2011, I was intrigued to learn that there were several persons named O’Brien- persons sharing my family name- on board the Titanic.  To observe the 100th anniversary of the sinking, I decided to research and post on Facebook- close in time to the actual events 100 years ago- what must or might have been happening to the O’Briens aboard Titanic as the events developed. These are the posts that I placed on Facebook at relevant times to try to share what might have been the story of the Titanic O’Briens…

Thursday, April 12, 2012 at 10:49 pm (all times MST)

Interesting to think back…100 years ago at about this time Titanic has left its last port of call in Queenstown (now Cobh), Ireland and is calmly steaming through the North Atlantic, unaware of the icy fate awaiting it at about 2 a.m. on April 15, 1912. Thomas O’Brien, 27, a farmer from County Limerick, and his wife Hannah Godfrey O’Brien, 26, a housewife, had boarded the great ship in Ireland and are settled into their third class cabin deep within the ship. Expecting their first child, they plan to live with one of Tom’s sisters in Chicago. Timothy Denis O’Brien, who last lived on Blarney Street in Cork, is also on board in third class. Denis is a jockey, traveling to accept a job riding horses. His older brother Michael O’Brien is waiting for him in New York City. These three O’Briens all are looking forward to a new life in America. Maybe they are drinking Guinness right now with someone like Jack Dawson? I wonder what will happen to them over the next couple of days?

Friday, April 13, 2012 at 11:46 am

The Titanic O’Briens, part 2. This weekend we are observing the centennial of the epic Titanic disaster with a fond recollection of the Titanic O’Briens. My last Facebook post introduced you to Tom and Hannah O’Brien, young newlyweds from County Limerick who came aboard at Titanic’s final port in Cobh, Ireland. Denis O’Brien from Cork is also on board, excited to see his older brother Michael O’Brien, who awaits Denis’s arrival in New York City. Titanic ticket holders in Cobh were ferried to the anchored ship by tenders. Today, Cobh has built a lovely museum around the old wooden dockets where Tom, Hannah and Denis waited for the tenders. We were fortunate to visit it last summer and you can read more about it here:
http://www.cobhheritage.com/

Friday, April 13, 2012 at 12:01 pm

The Titanic O’Briens, part 3. April 13, 1912 is a calm day at sea for the Titanic. Tom O’Brien, 27, and his new wife Hannah, 26, likely are spending the day conversing with their fellow third class passengers. Titanic’s passenger list is multinational, to say the least, and includes many Western Europeans but also representatives of Syria, Mexico, Turkey, Russia, China, Japan, South Africa and even Uruguay. Tom, who had worked in a creamery before deciding to emigrate, is probably comparing Titanic’s dairy offerings to the fresh Irish cream, milk and butter he used to process at home. Hannah, expecting their first child in five months, is likely resting and hopefully is not made too ill by Titanic’s rocking motion as she cuts through the seas of the North Atlantic. Denis O’Brien may well be strolling on the limited deck space available to steerage passengers. Due to the cool sea breezes, he probably is wearing a dark overcoat sent to him by older brother Michael so that he would not “look too poor” when he disembarked in New York City. With their future lives awaiting them in America, it seems to be a good day for the O’Briens aboard Titanic.

Friday, April 13, 2012 at 12:08 pm

The Titanic O’Briens, part 4. Perhaps the only O’Briens disappointed in Titanic right now are Mr. and Mrs. James V. O’Brien from Cleveland, Ohio. These O’Briens have been in Ireland dealing with business problems and a lawsuit. Their business has taken longer to complete than they expected. They had planned a return voyage to the states on the maiden voyage of Titanic. Vexingly, the delay in their business activities has caused them to miss the ship’s departure from Cobh. They are stressed and anxious about how they will get home. No doubt, right now they are wishing they were aboard Titanic with their fellow O’Briens, Tom, Hannah, and Denis.

Friday, April 13, 2012 at 3:04 pm

The Titanic O’Briens, part 5. The 2012 O’Briens are off to see the 3d Imax version of the movie “Titanic” at the Megaplex. We will be looking for characters in the movie who may well be Tom O’Brien, Hannah O’Brien or Denis O’Brien…

Saturday, April 14, 2012 at 12:21 pm

The Titanic O’Briens, part 6. Ironically, April 14, 1912 is a calm and rather pleasant day aboard Titanic. There are no sea breezes. Few, if any, of the passengers realize that this calm will make it more difficult for the crew to spot the many icebergs of the North Atlantic. A pregnant Hannah O’Brien may have befriended Georgette Dean, who is caring for her own newborn baby, nine week old Millvina. Hannah remains anxious about her arrival in America, in part because her husband Tom O’Brien’s sisters in Chicago really do not know about her, the marriage or the pregnancy. Tom, however, remains optimistic. Although his mother Margaret, back in Ireland, had serious concerns about (and maybe objections to) the new young family, Tom is hopeful for a fresh new start in America.

Saturday, April 14, 2012 at 12:30 pm

The Titanic O’Briens, part 7. Despite the unusually warm and calm weather in the North Atlantic on April 14, 1912, Denis O’Brien will not relinquish his dark overcoat. The coat is a gift from older brother Michael, who will meet Denis when he arrives in New York City. All alone on board, but hailing from the typically large and loud Irish family, Denis may have met and been amused by the Swedish Paulson family, fellow passengers in steerage. Alma Paulson is with her four children, Gosta, Stina, Paul and Torborg. Like Denis, the Paulsons are excited to arrive in New York and reunite with family- their husband and father Nils, who had worked, saved and sent money for their Atlantic crossing. Blissfully ignorant of the events that lie just ahead, the Titanic O’Briens, perhaps along with new friends like the Deans and the Paulsons, all watch as the kind and calm Spring day turns into the clear but colder night of April 14, 1912.

Saturday, April 14, 2012 at 7:15 pm

The Titanic O’Briens, part 8. Late on April 14 or early on April 15, 1912, Hannah O’Brien’s sleep, which now is spotty at best halfway through her first pregnancy, is disturbed by the shaking of the great ship Titanic. A few minutes later, the ship comes to a complete stop. Hannah shuts her eyes and tries to go back to sleep until an increasing volume of noise outside her third class cabin also wakes up even her deep-sleeping husband, Tom. Tom goes out into the hallway to try to find out what is happening. The same events stir Denis O’Brien from his slumber and, with his cabin mates, he joins the growing crowd in the narrow steerage corridors. The Titanic O’Briens are confronted with sharply conflicting waves of information. No general alarm has sounded in third class. Steerage passengers who have been above deck report that crew members sent them back down and said there was no danger on the great unsinkable ship. Yet, the steerage decks occupy two of the lowest decks on the ship, just above the boiler rooms. The third class passengers are among the first to see and feel the cold waters of the Atlantic seeping into the ship. They face an ominous dilemma…should they heed the counsel of the crew or of their own senses?

Saturday, April 14, 2012 at 8:10 pm

The Titanic O’Briens, part 9. Alarmed by the bits and pieces of negative news they have received regarding the status of Titanic, Tom and Hannah O’Brien, and Denis O’Brien, separately decide to dress and move up ship. Immediately, they confront several daunting obstacles. There are relatively few direct means of ascent from the lowest decks of the ship. Some of the routes that are available are blocked by gates, a requirement of local laws that regarded steerage passengers as carriers of disease and vermin. Already, the narrow corridors of steerage are crowded with a large number of very confused fellow passengers. Tom’s progress is further slowed by Hannah’s delicate state. Traveling alone, Denis likely can move much faster, but does he? Denis maybe pauses to help along some families like the Paulsons from Sweden. Alma Paulson is a mother, onboard Titanic alone with her young children. The circumstances faced by Denis, Hannah and Tom are made more perilous by something they do not know. Ironically, the world’s only unsinkable ship in fact is sinking in record time. Titanic will be completely submerged less than two hours and forty five minutes after it hit the iceberg. The Titanic O’Briens face almost impossible odds trying to survive the epic and historic tragedy into which they have innocently stumbled, but the depths of which they cannot yet possibly understand.

Saturday, April 14, 2012 at 8:52 pm

The Titanic O’Briens, part 10. By the time they eventually reach the lifeboat deck, which is no quick trip, the Titanic O’Briens must be stunned at the surreal scene that unfolds before them. Most of the lifeboats are gone. The great ship tilts dramatically towards her bow, as if paying homage to the great sea that is so savagely laying claim to her. Chaos prevails. And yet four hardy musicians play beautiful and angelic music on classical instruments. Hannah O’Brien leans against a wall with tears in her eyes. No doubt but that Tom O’Brien and Denis O’Brien cringe and bite their lips as they inquire but are told by the crew members that the boats are for women and children. Denis may have gone to look for the young Paulson family, to try to usher them to a boat and help them in, but he does not find them. Resigned to the circumstances, Denis quickly writes something on a piece of paper and hands it to a woman on one of the last boats to be lowered. He has a short conversation with her and then also gives her his beloved overcoat and waves goodbye.

Saturday, April 14, 2012 at 10:24 pm

The Titanic O’Briens, part 11. On deck as Titanic rapidly sinks, Tom and Hannah O’Brien are beyond consolation. They face an unexpected, dramatic, abrupt and forced separation mere months into what they had vowed would be a lifelong commitment to each other. I know not what they said. I guess it to be an exchange of simple words of love mingled with expressions of deep sadness. Tom likely discourages Hannah from her Irishly-stubborn refusal to leave his side. He gently tells her that their baby deserves to live and he guides her to a place on the lifeboat. She tentatively enters the boat, encouraged perhaps by the sight there of fellow steerage passenger Georgette Dean, who is gently cradling her nine week old daughter Millvina. Perhaps Tom stands with Georgette’s husband Bertram Dean as the boat is slowly lowered into the sea and Bertram ardently promises he will catch the next one and see them in New York. The name O’Brien derives from Brian Boru, the great and courageous High King of Ireland, who reigned some 900 years before this tragic night in the early twentieth century. As Titanic begins the final concession in her epic fight against the ocean, I like to think that the two remaining O’Briens on board, Tom and Denis, finally meet. At about 2:20 a.m. on April 15, 1912, Tom and Denis O’Brien- brothers in the name- summon the courage and strength of their great forefather and together face the freezing and fearsome onslaught of the North Atlantic.

Sunday, April 15, 2012 at 12:00 am

The Titanic O’Briens, part 12. Hannah O’Brien watches Titanic sink, weeps bitterly, shivers and drifts in her lifeboat for several hours. Her boat was one of the last to be launched from the doomed luxury liner and she is shocked by the rapidly developing events of the last three hours. Near sunrise on April 15, 1912, she and her fellow survivors are plucked from the sea by the crew of the RMS Carpathia. Carpathia is a Cunard passenger ship headed from New York City to Croatia, but it turns around after receiving Titanic’s distress calls. Carpathia arrives back in New York City three days later, on April 18, 1912. Ironically, Carpathia herself sinks in the Atlantic six years later, after it is torpedoed by a German U boat. Alone and knowing no one in New York, Hannah desperately waits for news of her husband, Tom O’Brien, whom she had to leave behind on Titanic. Arriving in New York with her on the Carpathia are Georgette Dean and nine week old Millvina Dean, who was the last Titanic survivor when she died in 2009.

Sunday, April 15, 2012 at 12:01 am

The Titanic O’Briens, part 13. The stark reality is that the odds were stacked heavily against Tom O’Brien and Denis O’Brien when Titanic flung them into the icy jaws of the North Atlantic early in the morning on April 15, 1912. Of the four hundred and forty men in third class, only 13% (fifty nine men) survived. Indeed, of the forty five men who, like Tom and Denis, came aboard Titanic in Queenstown (Cobh), Ireland, only five survived the disaster. Sadly, Tom and Denis O’Brien were not among them. Their bodies either were never found or never identified. Their earthly remains rest in unmarked graves in Halifax, Nova Scotia or simply became part of the vast Atlantic seascape.

Sunday, April 15, 2012 at 8:53 am

The Titanic O’Briens, part 14. Once extremely disappointed that they had missed their scheduled Titanic departure from Cobh, Mr. and Mrs. James V. O’Brien of Cleveland, Ohio, likely later had terribly mixed feelings when they learned of Titanic’s horrible fate. They returned safely to America from Ireland on another ship. Mrs. O’Brien lived to be 100 years old, and on that centennial birthday, a benchmark which Titanic now shares, she noted, in an understated way, that her children, fourteen grandchildren and twenty four great grandchildren were equally grateful that these Titanic O’Briens never actually set foot on Titanic.

Sunday, April 15, 2012 at 8:59 am

The Titanic O’Briens, part 15. While still grieving for her lost husband Tom O’Brien, Hannah O’Brien gave birth to their daughter, Marion, several months after her brush with death on Titanic. Tom’s Chicago family offered to let her stay with them there, but Hannah declined, apparently fearing that such an arrangement would bring painful reminders of the life that Titanic denied to her and Tom. Unfortunately, in the years that followed, she and Tom’s family became estranged and embroiled in a dispute over who should receive the compensation for Tom’s untimely death. Hannah remarried and worked in New York until her own untimely death, six years later in 1918, during a flu epidemic. Marion O’Brien grew up in New York with her stepfather, married and later retired to Manchester, Tennessee to spend time with her children and grandchildren. She rarely spoke of Titanic before she died in 1994. Years after Marion’s death, Tom’s great grandniece, Martina Devlin, learned about Tom and Hannah from family stories. She researched the family tales and eventually wrote a novel about Tom and Hannah. Her research and her book, published in 2004 and called “Ship of Dreams,” greatly helped me in this much smaller project. You can see pictures of Tom and Hannah and Marion O’Brien by clicking here: http://www.geni.com/people/Thomas-O-Brien/6000000015947674044

Sunday, April 15, 2012 at 9:14 am

The Titanic O’Briens, part 16. Some of the most poignant post-disaster newspaper reporting about Titanic involved the reactions of the families of the ship’s 1500 victims. One such report told how Swede Nils Paulson, in broken English, begged White Star officials for news of his wife Alma and their kids, all aboard the ship as it sank. He broke down in unrestrained grief when he leaned that none of them had survived. Perhaps nearby at about the same time was Michael O’Brien, the equally grief-stricken older brother to Denis O’Brien. Shortly afterwards, a woman contacted Michael and presented him a package and a strange but wonderful story. She told Michael that as she was about to escape from the frenzy on one of Titanic’s last lifeboats, a young man named Denis approached her with a note for Michael and a request that she return to his dear brother the overcoat Michael had sent to Denis so he would not look too poor as he left the Titanic. The note has been lost to us, but I can imagine it said something like this: “Michael, ’tis looking bad for me here. I won’t grace the streets of New York in this fine coat, but now you will for me. You can remember me when you do. I am rich from the love that came to me along with this coat. I go to God now without the coat but warm in the thoughts that I loved, and was loved by, my family. Yours, Denis.” Michael proudly wore the Titanic coat for years thereafter. You can see a picture of him wearing it, and read a story about the coat written by David Noonan, Michael’s grandson, here:
http://www.rd.com/true-stories/inspiring/the-titanic-coat-one-familys-legend/

Sunday, April 15, 2012 at 9:23 am

The Titanic O’Briens, final part. As we observe its centennial, I cannot make any profound contributions to the question of what Titanic means. Until recently, Titanic really was never more than a passing interest for me. I started to contemplate, research and write these posts only after traveling to Cobh, Ireland in the Summer of 2011 and learning, at the Cobh Heritage Center, that there were O’Briens on the Titanic. My goal in this writing was to help my family (and notably my own three children) understand and appreciate the very personal nature of history. Yet, I must admit that something else has happened beyond what I sought to achieve. If we are related at all, the Titanic O’Briens are only very distant relatives to me. However, in learning and retelling their stories, and with due respect and deference to their actual kin, I now have come to claim them as my own. Although I have never met and will never meet the Titanic O’Briens, we are brothers and sisters of the name.

Michael Patrick O’Brien
Salt Lake City
USA