Mary Hayes , aged 17, in 1919. Paul Dunne.
My great-aunt Mary Hayes from Limerick, who died 101 years ago in the second wave of the Spanish Flu aged just 17 and only a few weeks after this photograph was taken. She was dearly missed by her family and my mother was named after her.
Mary was born at what was known as the ‘Bedford Row Lying-In hospital’ on Thursday 18th July 1901. The family then resided at 3 Flag Lane, Limerick. In the 1911 Census the family are shown living at 15 in Pigott’s Lane (See attached), where Mary is listed as a scholar aged 9.
She died at No. 43 Thomas Street, in Limerick on Saturday 22nd March 1919 aged 17. Her older bother, Mortimer, was my grandfather. Included below is some correspondence between Mary’s mother and Mortimer’s regiment (he fought in the Great War) from this address in 1914.
Mary’s grave reference can be found here – Mary Hayes (5216) | Mount Saint Lawrence Cemetery
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Hi Frances,
The certified cause of death is ‘Phthisis’
‘The comorbidities of pneumonia, bronchitis, heart disease, and phthisis (tuberculosis), were often reported in the death numbers alongside ‘influenza’, obscuring the deadliness of the virus.’
The above explanation is from an article by Martin Bayly, London School of Economics
For more see here: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/public-memory-1918-flu/
Lorna, Editor
Very interesting article, the personal account of Mary’s death brings to life what people were experiencing at the time. Would someone be able to transcribe and explain the death certificate? It’s difficult to make out the hand writing, and I was interested to read what exactly the cause of death was given as.
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