Letters confirm Kilrush link to Titanic

The ill-fated Titanic, which sank on its maiden voyage in April 1912, with the loss of more than 1,500 lives, could have been built in Kilrush.

Kilrush historian and PhD student Paul O’Brien has uncovered fascinating correspondence from 1910, which links the West Clare town to the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast.

Paul’s PhD is based on up to 20,000 Glynn family papers he has been given access to. The Glynn family contributed hugely to industrial development in West Clare from 1798 to 1930.

Mr O’Brien believes some of the correspondence gives credence to the idea that Kilrush may have been considered as a location to build the ship that became famous for ill-fated reasons.

“The letters confirm, what was considered to be a local myth, that Kilrush had been under some consideration as a base to build Titanic, which was constructed in Belfast,” he said.

Letters from Henry Richard Glynn in Kilrush to Viscount Pirrie in Belfast, examine the possibility Harland and Wolff establishing a branch in Kilrush.

Viscount Pirrie was a director of both Harland and Wolff and the White Star Line. In 1862 Pirrie became an apprentice at the ship-building firm. By the time he was 27-years-old, he had been made a partner and was soon left in almost exclusive control.

“I hadn’t seen this information before in the Glynn papers. The document is dated February 4, 1910, and was written by Viscount Pirrie’s secretary. There are a few references to a branch of Harland and Wolff being opened in Kilrush in approximately 1910,” Mr O’Brien said.

“There was a suggestion of this from Henry Richard Glynn who was writing to a Mr Issac Johnson, who was Viscount Pirrie’s secretary. Glynn was very well in with Johnson and Pirrie. He was godfather to Johnson’s daughter, Kathleen, so he was very close to both families.

“So far, the letters of reply I’ve read from Johnson to Glynn have said they ‘won’t rule it out just yet and we will talk about it further’,” Mr O’Brien revealed.

“Everybody in Kilrush knows about it. There are loads of stories that Francis Street was wide enough to accommodate Titanic, even though the street far predates Titanic. Last weekend Adrian O’Connell in Kilrush boatyard said to me that there is some of the deepest water in Western Europe off Kilrush. Glynn knew that, being in the shipping business. There was a lot of money in shipping in the early 19th century so I suppose he was keeping his finger in all the pies,” Mr O’Brien suggested.

“I haven’t gone through the file properly yet. I’m cataloguing and filing as I go as opposed to reading, which it’s impossible not to at times,” he added.

From their initial foray into corn-milling, the Glynn family firm rapidly expanded their range of investments and property. A woollen mill was added in 1821, with flour and meal mills opening in 1872 and 1874.

At the height of the Glynn empire, a whole range of products were on offer, including Kilrush white and black seed, oats, beans, peas and crushed oats for cattle.