Athenry News & Views Spring 2026

Athenry News & Views

SINKING IN 1912 SHOCKS THE WORLD

Athenry passengers Nora Healy and Andy Keane

Among the many Irish emigrants who boarded the Titanic with dreams of a new life was 23-year old Andy Keane from Tobberoe, Athenry—an accomplished hurler, a devoted Gael and a young man whose story still resonates more than a century later. Preparing for a New Start Andy, a farm labourer by trade, had decided to follow his siblings Mary Anne, Ellie and John to Auburndale, Massachusetts. His sister in America sent him the fare—£8 1s 0d and he purchased his third-class ticket (No. 12460) through Mahon Travel Agents at Cross Street, Athenry. The staff at Mahon’s advised him to take a different ship, one offering better conditions for emigrants, but he was determined to sail on the Titanic, the grandest vessel ever built. In the weeks before his departure, Andy is believed to have been working in Ballydehob, Co. Cork. On Thursday, April 11, 1912, he boarded the Titanic at Queenstown carrying items that reflected the life he was leaving behind: a dozen hurleys, his melodion and the treasured county hurling medals he had won with Derrydonnell. Before emigrating, Andy had already made his mark

Andy Keane: The Derrydonnell Hurler who never returned from the Titanic.

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