Civilian Margaret McGoorty was a passenger on board S.S. Athenia when it sank on 3rd September 1939. She was the daughter of Mary McGoorty and spent the summer at Milltown, The Birches, Portadown, Co. Armagh.
She died on 3rd September 1939 aged 7 years old. At the time of her death, records listed Margaret as a schoolgirl from New York City, New York, United States of America. She had travelled to Northern Ireland via Glasgow on 6th July 1939. Oberleutnant Fritz Julius Lemp in U-30 sank S.S. Athenia 370km north-west of Inishtrahull, Donegal, Éire.
The Athenia was the first British ship sunk by the German Navy during the Second World War. With 117 passengers and crew dead, the loss was the Donaldson Line’s greatest disaster. During wartime, Germany denied sinking the Athenia but admitted responsibility in 1946. Many considered the attack a war crime.