Knock & The Titanic

"A Rather Pathetic Picture"

The Titanic is much in the news with it being the centenary year of its sinking, but yet it's still not widely know that both the best known and last known photographers of The Titanic were Irish men from Cork, and both were past men of Castleknock College.

FR. FRANCIS BROWNE, MC, SJ

The story starts with Francis Browne, SJ, a Cork man who after graduating from Castleknock (1893 - 1897) joined the Jesuit's and ended up teaching at Belvedere where he founded The Belvederian college annual and the Camera Club, both which still exist. The latter is important for photography was to be the great hobby of his life.

It started with a gift of a camera from his Uncle, Robert Browne, Bishop of Cloyne which Browne used extensively when he embarked on a tour of Europe in 1897. From then on, he photographed everything including his time as Chaplain to The Irish Guards during World War I and his passage via boat to Australia via South Africa after the war. On his way back to Ireland he visited Ceylon, Aden, Suez, Saloniki, Naples, Toulon, Gibraltar, Algeciras, and Lisbon, taking photographs of local life and events at every stop.

Francis Browne died in Dublin in 1960 and whilst his photography is mentioned in his obituary, it was not until his negatives were discovered some 25 years later at the bottom of a large metal trunk in Gonzaga College, that the full extent of his talent became recognised. The features editor of The Sunday Times of London equated the find to "the photographic equivalent to the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls" and Browne's output was somewhat more prodigious at over 41,000 photographs.

That he amassed such a prolific collection is perhaps down to a quirk of fate, for the same Uncle that purchased his first camera, also gifted him a ticket for the maiden voyage of The Titanic, albeit for the 1st leg of the journey only, Southampton to Cobh. No doubt he was enjoying himself immensely and must have been sorely tempted when an American fellow passenger in first class offered to pay his way for the rest of the voyage to New York. On being apprised of this suggestion, Frank's Jesuit Superior cabled Cobh saying, succinctly,“GET OFF THAT SHIP---PROVINCIAL”.

That denial probably saved his life; as few men in first class survived the sinking. After the tragedy, Frank Browne’s photographs appeared on the front pages of newspapers around the world. He had taken the last picture of Captain Smith and the only one ever taken in the Marconi room. His series starts at Waterloo Station with the “Titanic Special” and documents the activities of passengers and crew aboard this unique ship, concluding with the anchor being raised from the water for the last time.

Learn more about this remarkable man and his collection over at Father Browne

MAJOR JACK MORROGH

Our second photographer of the Titanic, was Jack Morrogh (1896/99) who attended the College at the turn of the century, alongside eight of his brothers; Henry (1888/91), Patrick 1889/94), Francis (1893/99), Dominick (1901/05), Ray (1901/07), William (1901/07), Stephen (1907/12) and Vincent (1907/12).

How might one ask did their father, John Morrogh, who trained as a teacher afford all these fees? Well, instead of a life before the blackboard he opted for one of high adventure in South Africa. It was a decision that paid handsomely, for he became a partner with Cecil Rhodes in De Beers, and sold his stake for the princely sum of one million pounds! He then returned to Ireland via we suspect a slight sojourn in Argentina, for the eldest son, Henry, is recorded as attending the College from “Buenos Ayres”. At home in Cork he set up the very successful Douglas Mills, and also served as MP for the area at Westminster. His involvement in Irish politics was not new, for he was a committed Parnellite and it was he who secured £10,000 from Rhodes (as attested to in his will) towards the cause of Irish home rule.

On the 11th April 1912, when the Titanic docked at Cobh, his son Jack who attended Sandhurst after Castleknock, was a newly-married 28 year old British Army Officer home on leave from serving in India. His brothers Vincent and Stephen, though still boarders at the time, were home for Easter holidays and were no doubt the main instigators of the expedition to track the progress of RMS Titanic. This they did via car and at Red Bay, when the Titanic slowed to a stop to drop her pilot, Jack Morrogh seized his opportunity to snap the picture above. Again posterity was not initially kind for when it was reproduced in the 1912 Castleknock College Chronicle, it was labelled “a rather pathetic picture” and it was not until 2003, that it was formally recognised as the last ever photograph taken of RMS Titanic.

All talk of Titanic was then forgotten when in October 1914 Jack Morrogh entered into the fighting at Flanders where he was wounded at the battles at Ypres Hill 60. Whilst recuperating in Ireland, he led the British Regiment that re-took the GPO from James Connolly and then it was back to Europe where he was taken prisoner at the village of Ronsoy, on the Somme river. Not for long though, as Jack Morrogh and 28 fellow officers staged a daring escape from Holzminden Prisoner-of-War camp in central Germany. It was the first time that tunnelling resulted in a successful escape of prisoners in the European theatre.

On his return to Ireland after the war, independence and the looming civil war, made for uncomfortable times for Jack, so he and his family moved to Uruguay and then Argentina. Jack again signed up for World War II initially to defend the Falkland Islands but then travelled to London where on account of his age, he was rejected for active service. Jack never went back to Argentina, but stayed in London and died there on December 7, 1954. He was seventy years old and lies buried in Hampstead.

Learn more about this remarkable man and his exploits over at Encyclopedia Titanica

THE GREAT WAR

This story also touches upon a part of our history oft forgotten in our celebration of independence, i.e. the good Irish men and women who served with distinction in the First World War. Both of our photographers above served with distinction; Fr. Browne was awarded the Military Cross and Jack came from the Morrogh “Family of Soldiers” that sent six brothers to the front.

That contribution, as measured by a college as small as Castleknock, was immense; witness the chronicle reports for 1916 War Distinctions & 1917 War Honours. So two Knock men, from Cork, both who served with distinction in the First World War and now forever linked by their photographs of RMS Titanic.