Robert McCready, 28, was a third-class passenger and Irish national aboard Lusitania originally from Belfast, County Antrim, Ireland (present-day Northern Ireland). McCready had been a photographer living in Canada and was traveling with Thomas McAfee. Both McCready and McAfee were lost in the Lusitania sinking on 7 May 1915.
Life
McCready was the second son of William J. McCready of 43 Oldpark Road, Belfast. Known as Bob, McCready worked at Messrs Charles and Russell, photographers, Royal Avenue, for twelve years before he emigrated to Canada. According to the 15 May 1915 Larne Times, McCready had made a very successful tour of business in the United States before returning home to Ireland aboard Lusitania, when he met his fate.
Notes
In Lusitania: An Irish Tragedy, author Senan Molony recounts how survivor Ralph Mecredy (no relation) had seen a photographer, presumably a steward, taking photographs of the Lusitania has she was sinking. The photographer’s dead body was brought ashore with two cameras strapped around his waist, but there is no evidence that points to the photographer and McCready being the same man. No developed photographs of the Lusitania sinking are known to exist.
Contributors:
Senan Molony, Ireland
References:
Larne Times, 15 May 1915, page 4.
Larne Times, 29 May 1915, page 8.
Molony, Senan. Lusitania: An Irish Tragedy. Mercier Press, 2004. pages 53-54.
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