Miss Margaret (Maggie) Daly was born on 1 July 1878 in Irishtown, Co Westmeath, Ireland.1
Born into a Roman Catholic family, she was the daughter of Patrick Daly, a labourer and railway worker, and Bridget Egan (b. circa 1848) who had married around 1868. Her father died sometime prior to 1901 but little else is known about him.
She had six known siblings: Mary (b. 1 November 1870), Bridget (b. 23 January 1873), Anne (b. 22 August 1874), Joseph (b. 4 May 1876), John (b. 12 October 1881) and Catherine (b. 18 August 1883).
Margaret had previously lived in the USA although in which timeframe is unclear; an Athlone-born Margaret Daly of similar age had crossed the Atlantic aboard the Cedric in November 1905 but whether this is the same person is unknown. Her brother John, a policeman, lived in the Bronx, having emigrated around 1903; he was married to Irishwoman Marcella Cowan and with her had a son, Joseph (b. 1909).
Margaret returned to Ireland around 1910 for an extended visit and appeared on the 1911 census living with her mother and sister Mary at 98, Irishtown and was described as an unmarried seamstress.
Margaret decided to return to New York and boarded theTitanic at Queenstown as a third class passenger (ticket number 382650, £6, 19s), travelling with several others from the Athlone area who included Bertha E. Mulvihill, Eugene Daly, Delia Henry, Michael Connaughton and the Rice family.
Miss Daly and Miss Mulvihill shared a cabin somewhere near one of the ship's boiler rooms. After the collision with the iceberg, Eugene Daly woke the two women and saw them safely into a lifeboat just as it was being lowered. Somehow Miss Mulvihill suffered a broken rib while boarding this lifeboat, but Miss Daly boarded safely.
Upon her arrival in New York aboard the Carpathia Margaret was listed as Marcella Daly, described as an unmarried domestic headed to her brother John at John who resided at 356, East 157th Street, New York City. Brother John had come down to meet her at the Cunard Pier.
Her mother back in Ireland continued to make her home in Irishtown and died a few years later on 29 June 1918.
Margaret remained in New York where she worked domestic jobs and is believed to have maintained a modest level of contact with fellow survivors Bridget Mulvihill and Eugene Daly. On 15 April 1920 she married Irish-born widower Bartholomew C. Griffin (b. circa 1871) in Manhattan, New York.
They later lived at 2231 3rd Avenue where Bartholomew died on 15 April 1934.
Margaret herself passed away on 7 April 1939, her last address being recorded as 304 East 162nd Street, New York. She was buried three days later in Calvary Cemetery with her husband.
I recently purchased the "Women of the Titanic" jewelry pins" and one of them is of Marcella Dale. I could not find her on the passenger list, but on the informaton that I received about her is of follows: Marcella Dale, age 30, left Ireland for NY in hope of finding a job teaching immigrant children. After being hurtled into one of Titanic's last lifeboats, a small baby was thrown to her as the boat was being lowered. The infant had no identification and once in NY, Marcella searched in vain for a family member. She eventually adopted the child herself and though she never married, ended...
Laurie, Sounds like Margaret Marcella Daly, who travelled third class from Ireland using her middle name and was aged 30. She planned to join her brother, who was a New York policeman. In letters written to her family after her rescue she makes no mention of any incident involving a baby, but newspaper accounts of the time were often very inventive about rescued children. Hope that's of some help. Bob
They are probably referring to Third Class survivor, Margaret Marcella Daly. My Best, Andrew
Bob, Looks like we posted at the same time. Andrew
Andrew, Yep. Great minds think alike. Bob
Bob, Andrew and Laurie--Maggie Daly's brother, John (the policeman) married Marcella Cowan. Maggie had returned home to Ireland to visit her relatives and traveled under Marcella's name. Her own middle name was not Marcella. She was a large, ungainly woman and did not have children, nor did she raise any though she lived in the house with her brother for a time and may have helped to raise John's son, Joseph Daly. Joseph Daly did not have children either, so the line ends there. Another spinster sister lived in New York as well.
all, I daresay the makers of collectible jewelry are even more inventive than Edwardian newsmen. Bob
The little "biographies" of the "Women of Titanic" pins are composites of actual survivors. None of the names are completely accurate, as you will notice upon examining them closely. Apparently the creators thought fiction might protect them from copyright infringement problems. Basically, they're in it for the money, not the historical accuracy. Kyrila
There can surely be no copyright in the names and biographical details of real people? More likely it added extra drama as a selling point, or saved them the small effort of getting it right. Bob PS: That's a great pic on your user profile, Kyrila. I'm hoping you dress like that all the time, so don't disappoint me by telling me otherwise!
You should see me in my Tea Gown! Kyrila
It's a date - 4pm in the Palm Court. Wear your 'Women of Titanic' pin so I will know you. You can't miss me - I'll be the one who looks more at home on Skid Row than Saville Row. Bob
I'll do better than that! I'll wear my Charlotte Cardeza sapphire ring and my Amy Stanley bracelet, along with my memorial pin. I'm the one in the two piece peach and white lace outfit and the white hat. Kyrila
In that case I'll be dressed in my best and prepared to go down like a gentleman. Bob
Kyrila, an interesting observation about hats, from a private letter written by stewardess Violet Jessop after she had seen ANTR (the film): "I begged Miss Coffin (she means Yvonne Caffin, the costume designer) when she interviewed me ... not to put women on board in the very beflowered, beplumed hats of the period as American women (and they were mostly Americans) would never wear street hats on board, and look what met your eyes at the Captain's table! Everything except the kitchen table on their heads!" I hope things were different in the Palm Court, as I'd hate to miss out on...
Well, actually it was the kitchen stove on their heads. Sorry, Violet, I know you were a stickler for accuracy.
Another interesting thing about hats, and how seriously some passengers might have taken the threat of sinking. A steerage passenger from my own locality in the west of Ireland was on a life boat and left it to go below to retrieve her hat, she then got into a second lifeboat and survived! Delia McDermott
That must have been one helluva hat, Mick. Perhaps she kept her money in it. I'd only go back for a hat if my head were still inside it!
Delia bought the hat before she left Lahardane, in the local town, Crossmolina in a shop called Cawley's, still there. Knowing the way money was at the time,it was probably one of the very few luxuries she ever had. So I suppose it was a hell of a hat! Local folklore has it that on the evening before she left the village she met a stranger who told her about the impending disaster. Her biography on the website is quite accurate. The cottage she left from in Knockfarnought has recently gone up for sale.