The Addergoole 14 story is a universal story of emigration; of hope and of shared tragedy. It is also a story of remembrance and commemoration.

Addergoole in north Mayo, is located in the shadow of Nephin, Mayo’s highest mountain and in view of Lough Conn. The Addergoole 14 left their homes in the hope of better lives. They were pulled by the promise of economic prosperity and opportunity.  Eleven of the Addergoole 14 were women and three were men.  They ranged in age from 17 to 42.  Thirty seven people from Ireland’s westerly Province of Connacht were among the 2,435 passengers that boarded the RMS Titanic.  There were among passengers from many other countries including Armenians, Chinese, Dutch, Italians, Russians, Scandinavians and Syrians. The Addergoole 14 were the largest group from Ireland.

The RMS Titanic was a luxury British passenger steamship owned by the White Star Line shipping company and built by Harland and Wolff in Belfast, Northern Ireland.  It was the largest and most luxurious passenger ship of its time and known as the ‘Ship of Dreams’.

After four days of sailing the ship was steaming ahead at about 22 knots (just over 40 kilometres per hour).  When off the coast of Newfoundland and under a moonless sky the ship collided with an iceberg.  It sank at about 2.20am on April 15 1912.  1,517 people on board perished and just 711 were saved. The high toll was in part because lifeboats were not filled to their full capacity of 65 people. Some  lifeboats left with only a handful of passengers. The survival rates for those travelling third class was dramatically lower than those in first class.  Third class passenger accommodation, also known as steerage, was the best of its time on the RMS Ttitanic. But no lifeboats were stored in the third class sections of the ship. Only three of the Addergoole 14 survived, all women.

Each year, on 15th April at 2.20 am, a bell in the grounds of St. Patrick's Church, Lahardane.  It is tolled by one of the descendant relatives of the Addergoole 14.

The Cruel Sea is the title of a bog oak art piece by Vincent O’Callaghan which forms the centerpiece of a small exhibition in the National Museum’s Turlough Park House. Vincent is the Grandnephew of Delia Mahon (1892 -
1912) who perished on the RMS Titanic.

Watch: Waking the Titanic by GMarshTV

The renowned Waking the Titanic documentary-drama film by GMarshTV, Crossmolina, Co. Mayo telling the story of the Addergoole 14 can be seen here.

This exhibition is loaned by the Addergoole Titanic Society.

The Addergoole 14