October 1st, 1879 - April 15th, 1961

She is a Libra.

Bridget Moran, known colloquially as Bertha was born in Toomdeely, Askeaton, Co Limerick, Ireland. She had a habit of downsizing her age, often considerably. She was the daughter of Patrick Moran (born 1837), a labourer, boatman and former lighthouse keeper in Ireland's west coast for several years, and Bridget Nestor (born 1845) who had married in 1867. Bridget was the sister of 10 siblings: Catherine (April 1st, 1868), Ellen (December 21st, 1869), Alice (July 1st, 1872), Michael (December 19th, 1874), John (December 24th, 1875), Mary (April 18th, 1878), Frances (February 15th, 1882), Daniel (July 7th, 1883), Patrick (December 20th, 1885), and Thomas (May 20th, 1888).

Her mother died on July 20th, 1891 from tuberculosis and her widowed father never remarried. Although she herself was absent from both the 1901 and 1911 Irish censuses, Bridget's family were listed on 1901 census living in the same locale. Bridget, who worked in a shirt factory, had emigrated around 1905 and lived in Troy, Rensselaer, New York with 4 of her siblings: Ellen, Frances, Daniel, and Thomas, appearing there on the 1905 census with her family as a resident of River Street and with all the ladies described as collar workers.

Bridget's father died on October 8th, 1909 at the age of 72 and she returned to Ireland shortly after to help settle his affairs. In November of 1911 she was joined in Ireland by Daniel, who like her, lived in New York where he worked as a policeman. His visit wasn't only to fetch Bridget but to claim his part of his inheritance, estimated at between $12,000 and $30,000 (the amount varies depending on the source), the amount to be divided between the surviving siblings.

Aboard Titanic/April 14th-15th, 1912:
For their return to New York Bridget and Daniel boarded the RMS Titanic at Queenstown on April 11th, 1912 as 3rd class passengers. Although financially comfortable enough to travel 2nd class, Bridget admitted that they chose to travel frugally so not to eat into their newfound riches too much. Joining them on their ticket was a friend, Patrick Ryan and they were also acquainted with another passenger from Askeaton, Margaret Madigan. Daniel carried their inheritance mainly in banknotes, on his person throughout the voyage. On the night of the sinking Bridget had been awakened by a jolt and was further roused by a commotion posture her cabin. Daniel soon arrived telling her that the ship had struck an iceberg and was in trouble and that she had no time to dress.

Throwing a coat over her nightclothes, she made her way with the rest of her party to the communal areas but found difficulties getting near the lifeboats and she related how crewmen barred their access to higher decks. With a "women and children first rule" being applied with access to even the vicinity of the lifeboats, Daniel and Patrick were prevented from going to A-deck, from where the aft starboard lifeboats were being padded, and instead they had to bid their farewells somewhere in the 3rd class areas of the ship, perhaps the aft well-deck. Bridget and Daniel said their farewells and Daniel asked Bridget not to fear for him.

Upon reaching the outer decks she claimed to have encountered Father Thomas Byles who assisted her and Margaret Madigan into one of the lifeboats, she stating she left in lifeboat 15 which she described as being one of the last to depart and heavily overloaded with what she estimated approaching 80 or more bodies. She also described how when her lifeboat was lowered there were still women and children waiting on the deck to be taken care of. Whilst Bridget and Margaret were saved, Daniel and Patrick were lost in the sinking.

After The Sinking/Later Life/Death:
Arriving in New York aboard the RMS Carpathia, Bridget was described as a 28-year-old collar factory worker and her next of kin was listed as her brother Patrick in Ireland. She and Margaret were cared for in St Vincent's Hospital, suffering from exposure and shock, until Thomas came to fetch her and bring her to Troy. Travelling up to Troy alongside fellow Irish survivor Edward Ryan, a worse-for-wear and poorly Bridget arrived on the evening of April 21st, 1912 and immediately went to the home of Mrs. James Abel of Douw Street where she was placed under the watch of a physician. Perhaps still slightly traumatized (or through the embellishment by reporters), Bridget gave a much more fantastical version of events than she would in interviews conducted only days later by different newspapers. 

In the interview printed in the Knickerbocker. Press on April 22nd, 1912, she said that she and Daniel had been on deck at the time of the collision, with frantic crew snatching lifebelts from passengers and hundreds of passengers not being able to find any lifebelts at all. Instead of stepping into a lifeboat she was grabbed by the waist and thrown shortly after which Daniel dramatically raised his hands above his head dived off the ship to meet his death. Few of these details marry with the much more composed version of events, she gave just days later. A few weeks after that she gave another version of events when she stated:

"I would have drowned on the Titanic, too, had it not been for Dan. The ship's officers and crew ordered that all third class passengers keep back. Dan fought his way through them, carrying me with him. He had a furious fight before he got me into a lifeboat. Then he took his place among the men on the deck. That was the last I saw of him. We had expected to have four thousand dollars apiece. Now the money is all gone and the worst of it, Dan's gone, too." - The Evening News, 16 May 1912

Following her experience Bridget would never set foot on a boat ever again and she never returned to Ireland. With her inheritance lost with Daniel, Bridget later filed a claim for loss of property and personal injury but received only a faction of the amount, having to wait nearly 4 years for the payout. A year after the sinking Bridget was married in New York on August 30th, 1913 to machinist Richard Sinnrott (May 14th, 1882), a fellow countryman and son of Richard Sinnrott and Bridget Hanley of Co Wexford who had only arrived in the US in March that year aboard the Columbia. She went on have 3 children: Daniel James (August 29th, 1914), Eileen Ruth (April 12th, 1916), and Richard (June 7th, 1916).

The family moved to Detroit, Michigan around 1916 where Richard garnered another machinist job. With the family only settling into their new surroundings, Bridget was to become a young widow when Richard died on October 26th, 1917 in an accident at work. A machine he was working with malfunctioned and he was shot with compressed air directly into the abdomen, puncturing his intestines. He died the same day, his body later being returned and buried in Troy, New York. Bridget was pregnant with their youngest child when she was made a widow and her son, which he named Richard in honour of his late father. She and her children appear on the 1920 census as residents of Porter Street, Detroit and working as a beautician. She was remarried to an English widower George Cooper (November 15th, 1882 in Bradford, Yorkshire), a sausage salesman, who brought to the family 3 children from his previous marriage: Ernest,  Frank, and Richard.

Bridget and George welcomed a daughter of their own, Bertha (February 22nd, 1923) and the 1930 census shows the blended family living at 23rd Street, Detroit. By the time of the 1940 census Bridget was again a widow and still at 23rd Street, Detroit (the home she would live at for the rest of her life) when George passed away on November 17th, 1936. Bridget spent her later years tending to her garden and her nine grandchildren, who she taught to speak certain phrases in the Irish language. Over the years she gave occasional interviews regarding her experiences and in 1953 was a guest at a special screening of Titanic, an event she found very emotional. Bridget later battled cancer and died on April 15th, 1961, the 49th anniversary of the sinking. She is buried in Holy Sepulcher Cemetery, Southfield, Michigan.

Sources:
www.encyclopedia-titanica.org

Rest In Peace Bertha Moran.