‘It was like they didn’t exist’

Orphanage fire survivor speaks ahead of 80 year anniversary

Michelle Taite

The last survivor of the Cavan Orphanage Fire hopes she lives to see a permanent memorial erected to her 35 young friends and an elderly woman who lost their lives in the blaze 80 years ago.

Catherine Graham was 15 years old when the building went up in flames in 1943. Her daughter Denise spoke to the Celt last week on behalf of her mum, now aged 95 years ahead of a special commemoration in Cavan Town tomorrow evening (Thursday) to mark the anniversary.

Read about the commemoration events here

Kathleen, as she is known, and the other orphans awoke at 1.30am on the morning of February 23 to find the building on fire. She quickly grabbed whatever clothes she could find.

She ran down the corridor to the fire escape, however Kathleen quickly realised the doors were locked and the nuns had the keys.

“They couldn’t get out, the doors were locked,” says Kathleen’s daughter Denise. Kathleen thought of her little sister Bernadette, who was only aged seven or eight at the time.

Believing she was on a higher floor, Kathleen went to try and find her.

“She could have escaped but she went back for her younger sister,” says Denise, whose mum relayed the story to her some years back.

“There was her and a young girl. She was with my mum and they were both overcome with the smoke. She went down on the floor and [Kathleen] was trying to get her up but she said she knew she had gone.”

The young girl named Mary Lowry (6), had inhaled too much of the thick black smoke, causing her to fall unconscious. Kathleen attempted to shake her awake, however she quickly realised she had passed away.

“She was the only one that was identified because she had a cross and chain around her neck,” Denise continued.

Kathleen began to crawl across the floor, attempting to find a window from which to escape.

“Next thing she knew she was up at a window. She said she can’t remember how she got up there.”

The young girl managed to smash one of the windows, cutting her hands with the glass in the process. Her hair had also been burnt by the flames.

“She was sitting on the window ledge and the men came to try and get her down but their ladders weren’t long enough,” Denise said.

Kathleen lowered herself off the window ledge to the safety of a ladder and rescuer down below.

Her sister Bernadette also managed to reach a window and was brought to safety. Her other four sisters also managed to make it out safe, one of whom received bad burns to her back.

Eighty years on and the horrific night still haunts Kathleen’s memory, stories of which she kept a secret from her family for centuries.

“We never knew until we were really old,” says Denise. “We never knew anything about it because she was so ashamed of being an orphan, the way they were treated and all.

“She’s 96 in June, I suppose something like that never leaves you. We went over last year to see the graves. Her sister is buried right beside them. She wanted to be buried with the kids but they wouldn’t let her, so she’s buried right beside them.”

However, upon opening up to her children, she said she often thinks of her 35 friends who lost their lives in the blaze, always hoping their lives would be commemorated in some way.

“She always thinks about the little ones. When she starts talking about it, she’s always said it would have been nice for the youngsters who didn’t make it [to be commemorated]. They were left with nothing - it was like they didn’t exist.”