So who were the Trojans on the Titanic?

Twenty-eight-year-old Bridget “Bertha” Moran and her brother Daniel were traveling from Ireland. Bridget worked in a shirt factory, had come to Troy around 1905, and lived with four of her siblings: Ellen, Frances, Daniel, and Thomas. They lived on River Street. All the ladies were collar workers. Bertha’s dad died, and she and Daniel were in Ireland to collect their inheritance, travelling third class.

Daniel carried their inheritance throughout the voyage. Along with Bertha and Daniel was a friend, Patrick Ryan, and another passenger, Margaret Madigan.

According to one source, “On the night of the sinking, Bridget had been awakened by a jolt and was further roused by a commotion outside her cabin. Her brother Daniel soon arrived, telling her that the ship had struck an iceberg and was in trouble, and that she had no time to dress. Throwing a coat over her nightclothes, she made her way with the rest of her party to the communal areas but found difficulties getting near the lifeboats, and she related how crewmen barred their access to higher decks.

“With a ‘women and children first’ rule being applied with access to even the vicinity of the lifeboats, Bridget’s brother and Patrick Ryan were prevented from going to A-deck, from where the aft starboard lifeboats were being loaded, and instead they had to bid their farewells........

© The Saratogian