Hanora Hegarty

Miss Hanora Hegarty, known as Nora, was born in Killavallig¹, Whitechurch, Co Cork, Ireland on 15 February 1892.

She was the daughter of Laurence Hegarty (b. 1833), a farmer, and Mary Riordan (b. 1847) who were married in Rathcormac Parrish Church on 22 February 1887. The family were Roman Catholic and spoke both Irish and English.

Nora was one of eight children born to her parents and her siblings were: Catherine (b. 2 January 1888), William (b. 21 April 1890), Mary (b. 27 April 1893), Hannah (b. 24 July 1894), Margaret (b. 7 May 1896), Timothy (b. 23 January 1899) and Bridget (b. 2 September 1903). Her sister Hannah died aged 10 from meningitis on 20 February 1905.

The family appear on the 1901 census living at house 3 in Killavallig, Whitechurch and on the 1911 census at house 5 in Killavallig but Hanora is not listed with her family on the latter record and was listed at the home address of her aunts Mary and Nora Hegarty on Dublin Street in Cork City.

Hanora boarded the Titanic at Queenstown as a third class passenger (ticket number 365226 which cost £6, 15s). Travelling with her was her cousin Jeremiah Burke (his mother was the sister of her father Laurence Hegarty) and they were destined for the home of her cousin Mary Burns, the elder married sister of Jeremiah, in Charlestown, Boston, Massachusetts. A pious young woman, Hanora was reportedly destined to join an order of Nuns in the Boston area.

Hanora Hegarty died in the sinking, as did her cousin Jeremiah. Their bodies, if recovered, were never identified.

Her estate, worth a paltry £5, was administered to her father Laurence on 11 December 1912.

HEGARTY - April 15th, lost on ss. Titanic disaster, Nora, the beloved daughter of Laurence and Mary Hegarty, Killavallig, Whitechurch, aged 19 years. Deeply regretted. R.I.P. - Cork Examiner, 27 April 1912

Her father lived less than two years after her death and he passed away on 21 January 1914. Her mother later died in the 1920s or 1930s. Her brothers William and Timothy remained in Whitechurch as farmers; William died 27 August 1957 and Timothy on 10 July 1960.