September 25th, 1888 - November 12th, 1948

She is a Libra.

Catherine "Katie" McCarthy was born in Ballygorteen, Co Tipperary, Ireland to Patrick McCarthy (born 1939), farmer, and Mary Boyce (born 1854), both Ballygorteen natives who had married on February 23rd, 1873. Kate had 5 known siblings: Mary (October 2nd, 1874; later Mrs. John Woolnough - 1950), Patrick (February 21st, 1877), John (April 13th, 1879), Johanna fDecember 4th, 1881; later Mrs. Thomas Peters) and Michael (June 24th, 1885).

Her mother died from typhoid in Tipperary's Union Workhouse on June 19th, 1891 at the age of 37. When Katie and her family appear on the 1911 census they were living at Ballygorteen, Killaddiffe, Tipperary and she was described as an unmarried farmer's daughter, as per Titanic's passengers manifest she worked as a domestic servant.  

Aboard Titanic/April 14th-15th, 1912:
Katie had pondered going to America for a number of years but kept hesitating due to her unease about long-distance travelling. In early 1912 she finally resolved to make the leap, despising to join her sister Mary in Guttenburg, New Jersey where she hoped to live for a few months before heading west where her brother John lived in Chicago. Katie boarded the RMS Titanic at Queenstown, Ireland as a 3rd class passenger and she roomed with 2 other Tipperary women, Kate Connelly and Katie Peters. On the night of the sinking Kate, the only sieving member of their group, recalled that Tipperary man Roger Tobin called by their canon and told them to get up and dressed and to bring lifebelts but assured them there was no danger.

Kate said she only sensed any urgency and whilst she implored the other 2 girls to follow her, she ended up leaving alone and never saw the other 2 girls or Roger again. In a letter to her father, reprinted on May 25th, 1912 in The Advocate, an Irish-American newspaper, she recalled her experience. It's not certain which lifeboat Katie escaped in (possibly lifeboat 15). She later recalled hearing Nearer My God To Thee being played and the horrible cries of those struggling in the water once the ship had sunk.

After The Sinking/Later Life/Death:
Arriving safety in New York she was described as a 23-year-old domestic and headed to her sister Mrs. J.A. Woolnaugh at 25th Street, Guttenburg, New Jersey. She was hospitalized for recovery in St Vincent's hospital before eventually being reunited with her sister. Katie settled in her new home and a few months later was joined in the US by John Croke. He stepped off the Maurentania on June 28th, 1912 described as an unmarried labourer from Co Tipperary, he was destined to the home of his "friend" Katie McCarthy, who was by then residing at East 15th Street, Manhattan.

John Croke was born on December 13th, 1883 in Cappaunic, Co Tipperary, son of farmers William Croke and the formally Mary Keating. Him and Katie grew up in neighbouring townlands. Katie and John were wed in New York on September 2nd, 1914 but their marriage wasn't blessed with any children. John worked at Morse Dry Dock Co. in Brooklyn and by the 1918 him and Katie were living at Montague Street in that borough. Neither Katie nor John naturalized as US citizens and in the early 1920's both returned to their native Ireland where Katie still had family. Her father, however, had died on October 19th, 1915. Katie and John settled in Ballintemple, Dundrum, Co Tipperary where John worked as a farmer and merchant.

In later years Katie was reportedly held in high esteem in her local community and was described as a very kindly and sweet-natured lady. During the summer of 1948 she suffered a stroke but lingered for 3 months before she died on November 12th, 1948 at the age of 60. She was buried in St Michael's Cemetery in Brodeen, Co Tipperary. She was survived by John whose eventual fate is uncertain. He may have died in the 1950s or 1960s. 

Sources:
www.encyclopedia-titanica.org

Rest In Peace Catherine McCarthy.