Miss Mary Mullin (Mary Lennon) was born in Clarinbridge, Co Galway, Ireland on 31 August 1893.
Hailing from a Roman Catholic family, she was the daughter of Redmond Mullin (b. 2 May 1864), a merchant, and Delia Hynes (b. circa 1870) who had married in St Nicholas' Roman Catholic church, Galway on 16 February 1885.
She had five known siblings: Owen Joseph (b. 1 June 1888), Bartholomew Joseph (b. 12 July 1889), Daniel (b. 30 July 1890), Bridget Mary (b. 21 July 1891) and Margaret Mary (b. 12 August 1892).
Mary's parents ran a public house and shop in their village and they were a financially comfortable family for the time in Ireland. To reflect their affluence at the time, when Mary's father died on 17 September 1893, when she was less than a month old, he left an estate valued at £10,690, 16s, 1d.
Mary appears on the 1901 census as a seven-year-old living with her mother and siblings and a host of servants at house 4, Hillpark, Clarinbridge. By the time of the following census she was a pupil at a boarding school, Loretto Convent, in Rathfarnham, south Dublin but her family were then listed at house 3 in Clarinbridge.
By 1912 Mary's family had an assistant in their shop, a 20-year-old Longford native named Denis Lennon. The two fell in love and made plans to leave Ireland and cross the Atlantic. Originally booked to travel aboard Cymric, the coal strike changed their plans and they boarded the Titanic at Queenstown as third class passengers (ticket number 370371 which cost £15, 10s) and were using the names Dennis and Mary Lennon.
Mary's brother Joe (and possibly also her mother) reportedly pursued the couple all the way to Queenstown, Joe carrying a loaded firearm in his fury, but they reached the dock too late. It has been suggested that Mary Mullin and Denis Lennon were cousins, the latter's mother's maiden name also being Mullin, but this was not the case.
Mary Mullin, along with Denis Lennon, died in the sinking. Their bodies, if recovered, were never identified.
What became of Mary's family in Ireland following the disaster is unclear.
Comment and discuss
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(I'm very sorry for my poor English !) I have read a book about an eloping couple, boarded at Queenstown. That book is called "I died on the Titanic" by Monica O'Hara-Keeton, and is about ..."a fascinating investigation through hypnotic regression". The book tells the story of a Lucy Latymer, who might have boarded Titanic at Queenstown with her friend. The couple might have named themselves Mary and Denis Lemon (or Lennon ?) and acted if there were brother and sister. Is there anyone out there who have this book too and want to give comment about it ? Or does anyone has any knowledge about this Mary and Denis Lemon (Lennon ?). I am looking forward to any reaction. Thanks. Marc De Bruyne, Belgium.
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Marc: There's no need to apologize. Your English is better than most of the people that graduate from high school here in California. I noticed your guest entry on this subject awhile ago. I read "I Died on the Titanic" last year and had a hard time finishing it. I'm very skeptical of hypnosis in the first place, especially in this case when it was done by O'Hara-Keeton's own husband. It seems more like coaching to me or hocus-pocus. But I am reminded that strange, unexplainable things can happen -- like Morgan Robertson's writing of "The Wreck of the Titan" 14 years before Titanic sank. She did not just jump on the bandwagon to publish a book during the recent Titanic mania. She has been a student of the Titanic for quite some time. I've got another interesting book she wrote (as Monica Harding O'Hara) in 1989 called "Hands Off The Titanic" in which she analyzes the hand-writing of various people connected to Titanic. Mike
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The Irish passenger named Mary lennon was actually Mary Mullin. Dennis Lennon wasn't her brother but her lover. The couple were eloping to escape those who frowned on their relationship back home. Local legend states that Mary's older Joe brother gave chase to the young couple with a loaded revolver just missing them at the quayside at Queenstown. He is said to have banged his fists on the railing as the tender took its passengers out to Titanic. Mary was 18 years old and Dennis 20. More information is given in Senan molony's excellent book "The Irish Aboard Titanic"
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