Miss Mary Bourke

Miss Mary Bourke, 25, sister to John Bourke and daughter of William Bourke and Mary O'Boyle, boarded the Titanic at Queenstown as a third class passenger (ticket number 364848, £7, 15s). She purchased her ticket from Thomas Durcan of Castlebar. She was travelling from Carrowskehine, Co Mayo to Chicago, Illinois with her brother John and sister-in-law Catherine. Mary was one of a group travelling from the Co Mayo area (see Katherine McGowan).

On the night of the sinking Mary, her brother and sister-in-law managed to make their way to the Boat Deck after her brother and Patrick Canavan discovered a ladder taking them to a higher deck. Indeed, Mary and Catherine were seated in lifeboat 16 but when they saw that John was to remain behind they relinquished their seats and rejoined him on deck. Mary refused to leave her brother and, subsequently, she lost her life in the disaster. Her body, if recovered, has never been identified.

Sources
Contract Ticket List, White Star Line 1912 (National Archives, New York; NRAN-21-SDNYCIVCAS-55[279]).
Noel Ray (1999) List of Passengers who Boarded RMS Titanic at Queenstown, April 11, 1912. The Irish Titanic Historical Society