1 – New Horizons
Annie thought she’d be trampled to death in the crush as the passengers surged up the narrow gangplank and scrambled to find space on deck. Holding fast to her small trunk with one hand, she kept a grip on Philip with the other. Ahead she could see Anthony’s red head bobbing up and down as, laden with baggage and rolled-up bedding, he pushed his way to the rail on the leeward side of the tender to catch a last glimpse of their aunt and uncle.
‘Over here, Annie, I’ve found a place,’ he called.
With one heave, Annie and Philip broke free from the body of the crowd and joined their brother. The noise was overwhelming. The roar of the engines and the mournful hooting of the horn drowned out even the screaming gulls. Pandemonium reigned on board the tender just as it had on the quayside earlier. Porters pushed and swore as they carted enormous boxes of provisions on board. Steerage passengers were escorted on board for the short trip out to the steamer, which was lying at anchor at the mouth of Queenstown harbour.
‘All aboard, all aboard,’ yelled the steward through a loud hailer.
A wave of panic swept over Annie as her eyes scanned the figures on the quayside. The wan faces all looked the same in the morning light. The train remained there right beside the quay, its tall, narrow funnel still gently belching smoke, although all passengers from Cork had long since disembarked. She could see the horses and carts, having dispatched their cargo, leaving the dockside and trundling up the narrow road towards the town. Tears blinded her. Shivering, she pulled her two young brothers closer, her tears falling on Anthony’s tight red curls. The boys clung to her gratefully, silenced for once.
Suddenly there was a mighty clang as the gangplank was pulled up and the rails secured; then they were pulling away from the quay wall. All eyes on board looked their last on the waving hands and stricken faces of the loved ones left behind.
To those departing on board that tender, Queenstown had never looked more splendid than it did on that cold December morning. Lit by the pale winter sun, the imposing new cathedral seemed to give the passengers a parting blessing from the hill. The houses, rising in exuberant terraces from sea level, seemed to look beyond them out to sea, as if they had already let them go. Wisps of smoke rising from the chimneys merged with the long trail of black smoke left by the tender as it moved out beyond Spike Island.
The faces gradually became distant specks, and the passengers fell silent, cowed by the looming shape ahead. The Guion Royal and United States mail steamer, the SSNevada, lay at the entrance to the harbour waiting to take them on board. Far above them the letters SSNevadastood out boldly from a blinding white background.
Looking up, Annie thought the steamer the most heart-stopping sight she’d ever seen. Suddenly her spirits lifted. ‘Look boys,’ she cried, turning them around to face it, ‘isn’t that a grand ship that’s taking us to America?’
Charlie and Norah Twomey waved till t
