Bessie Hare, 28, was an Irish national and British subject who lived with her brother Daniel who lived at 204 West 78th Street, New York, New York, United States. She was a Roman Catholic, and she was employed as a house maid. She had another brother who lived on Dublin Road in Tuam, County Galway, Ireland.
Bessie sailed on board Lusitania to visit her parents in Tuam, as her father, William, had been severely ill.
Bessie was lost in the disaster. Her body was recovered, #95, buried in grave 622 (Row 19, No. 12) in the Old Church Cemetery in Queenstown (now Cobh), Ireland. Her body was identified by her sister, Mrs. Julia Stewart, who was accompanied by Willie Hare, Jr. They collected the belongings found with Bessie’s body.
The family patriarch’s illness prevented the Hare family from immediately moving Bessie’s remains to the Hare family plot in Tuam New Cemetery. An attempt to move her body in December 1915 was unsuccessful. The Hare family was successfully able to move her body was successful in March 1916, and on she was moved to the Tuam New Cemetery and re-interred on 26 March 1916. Her burial place is Section D, Eastern B Vault.
In May 1916, the Hare family sought financial relief for the loss of Bessie through the British Government without results.
In 1924, Bessie’s brother Willie wrote to the US Department of State to prefer a claim for the loss of his sister. The State Department referred Willie to the Cunard Line, who then referred him to the Foreign Office reparations department. The Foreign Office did not respond to Willie Hare, so Hare involved Irish TD Tom O’Connell and the Department of External Affairs to advance his case. The issue still was not resolved by 1925, and the Hares abandoned their attempt for compensation.
Contributors
Patria McWalter, Archivist, Galway County Council, Ireland
Senan Molony, Ireland
Judith Tavares
References
Molony, Senan. Lusitania: An Irish Tragedy, pg 36. Mercier Press, 2004.
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