People on board

McCABE, Thomas

Little is confirmed about Thomas McCabe’s personal life and only transcripts of his military records have been found. According to these he was born in St Andrews, which probably refers to St Andrews Church in Westland Row, Dublin. His marriage certificate states that his father was Patrick McCabe. However a birth matching these two pieces of information has not been found. He was thirty-six in 1918 according to his death certificate which puts his birth at 1882.

He married Elizabeth Fleming in the Pro-Cathedral in Dublin on the 31st of July 1908, giving his occupation as Labourer. Both gave their address as 8 Lower Gloucester Place, a tenement in one of the poorest areas of Dublin. In the 1901 census Elizabeth, aged eleven, had been living at Number 8, in one room, with Michael and Rose Dunne, where she was described as a ‘Nurse Child’. In the 1911 census she was living in the same house with the same couple, described as a ‘Relative’, declaring herself three years married and with no children born. No children of Thomas McCabe and Elizabeth Fleming have been found. His whereabouts in both the 1901 and 1911 censuses has not been found.

According to his medal record Thomas McCabe was with the Royal Field Artillery as a Driver from 1914, when he enlisted in Dublin and qualified for the Clasp on the 11th of September 1914. He was also awarded the Victory and British medals, but no other details of his military career are known.  In 1918 he was with the 3rd Division Ammunition Column.

Presumably following leave in Dublin he travelled on the 10th of October 1918 on RMS Leinster. He survived the sinking and was taken to the King George V Military Hospital in Dublin. He died there on the 23rd of October from Influenza and Pneumonia and was buried in Grangegorman Military Cemetery. Elizabeth McCabe née Fleming married Lawrence Farrell on the 12th of November, three weeks after Thomas McCabe’s death.