People on board

MURPHY, Chrissie

In the newspaper reports following the sinking of RMS Leinster on 10 October 1918 Chrissie Murphy was named among the casualties from Tralee, Co Kerry. The only detail was that she was from Steepleview, the part of the town which included Brogue Maker’s Lane, where another of the casualties, Lizzie Healy, lived. It is known that she came from a large family, but the exact family has not been identified, nor has her date of birth. Her occupation and reason for being on the ship also remain a mystery.

In the early decades of the nineteenth century Steepleview, named because of its view of the steeple of the nearby church, was not a healthy place to live. In 1913 a local doctor, Michael Brick found it necessary to call attention to what he described as “the unsanitary conditions of Brogue Lane and Steepleview, where there were no WCs, water accommodation or any kind of drainage associated with those houses.”

Chrissie Murphy did not survive the sinking of the ship but her body was recovered. It was reported that her brother was charged a shilling to gain entrance to the morgue in Dublin, where he identified Chrissie from a burn scar on her neck. Her remains were brought by train from Dublin to Tralee with the other local casualties and they were buried in Rath cemetery. The funerals were attended by large numbers of people as reported by the local papers.