On the 15th of April, 1912, the RMS Titanic sank after striking an iceberg and over 1,500 lives were lost. The ship slipped from view under the Atlantic Ocean with only 705 having escaped. Of the victims, some felt their duty was to remain and go down with the vessel. One such man on duty was Dr William Francis Norman O'Loughlin, Senior Surgeon White Star Line and RCSI graduate.
 | |
|
William Francis Norman O’Loughlin was born on 22 October 1849 in Tralee, Co. Kerry. He embarked on his education journey in the 1860s, reportedly to Trinity College and the Catholic University of Ireland, the precursor of UCD on St. Stephen’s Green. He took medical training in Cecelia St. and went on to take his exams with the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, signing the Roll of Licentiates in August, 1870.
 |
| Signature in the RCSI Roll of Licentiates, 1870 |
A year later, in 1871, he became a Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland. Some years later, Dr O’Loughlin was located in Southampton. His career would see him serving at sea for about 40 years. He was ship’s surgeon aboard the Majestic and the Olympic before his fateful transfer to the Titanic in 1912.
 | |
|
On the Titanic, the medical facilities Dr O’Loughlin headed up were said to rival the best small hospitals of the time. Every Third-Class passenger underwent a medical examination, to prevent the spread of disease and lice on board. Seemingly the facilities spanned different decks, with multiple wards, a padded room and two infectious disease wards, wards for the engineers, surgery rooms and a dispensary.
Dr O’Loughlin’s story isn’t captured through the Hollywood retellings, but his service and heroism were heralded in the newspapers of the day.
 | |
|
Excerpt from Irish Independent article, 7 May 1912:
As an officer of the ship… he made no attempt to escape when the accident happened, but bent all his energies to helping others. It is said that he did not even don a lifebelt. It was a fitting end to an unselfish and self-sacrificing career, one marked at every step by charity, not only that expected of the doctor, but signalled by so liberal giving of money as to leave him usually straitened in his circumstances…
On the 25 of May, 1912, The Kerry Sentinel wrote touchingly of the doctor’s legacy and of his final moments.
It is a pleasure to know that the many memorials which are to be raised in connection with the Titanic disaster, the popular Irish physician, Dr F N O'Loughlin is not to be forgotten. In him the White Star Company lost the doyen of their medical service--their loved Commodore, one of the most lovable of men... He knew no dull moments and always looked at the bright side of things.
One of the last scenes on the deck of the Titanic is said to have been a sad one, namely that of a group of officers, including Dr O'Loughlin, the two pursers of [sic] their assistants, and some others, all joined in arms waited the final plunge of the great ship they were on.
Many memorials and tributes to the doctor were organised on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean including a commemorative tablet for St. Vincent’s Hospital in New York and a requiem mass in the University College Chapel, St. Stephen's Green, Dublin. At the age of 62, his final resting place was Atlantis, New Jersey, USA.
 | |
|