03 / Leitrim & the Atlantic · 31 August–29 September 1883
Twenty-nine days.
A family changed.
At home, a death and a birth.
Across the ocean, a possible chapter in Catherine’s life.
The ship’s dates are documented. Its passenger Kate McPadden has not yet been proved to be Catherine.
The family at home · documented
Leitrim.
Mary, Michael and their children.
Tullynascreen remains the center of their story.
The passenger’s journey · identity uncertain
The Atlantic.
Kate McPadden aboard the City of Berlin.
Was this Catherine’s crossing?
31 August 1883
A ship leaves Queenstown.
Ship event documented · Catherine’s identity unproved
The City of Berlin departed Queenstown on 31 August 1883. Its passenger list includes Kate McPadden, an Irish servant recorded as fourteen. If she was Catherine, this was the beginning of her crossing.
Michael and Mary’s daughter was sixteen. No parent, townland or receiving contact yet closes the identification.
Close in time is not proof of cause
The dates connect.
The missing words do not.
These records bring a death, a birth and a possible crossing into view. They do not establish why a departure happened, whether news crossed the ocean, or what anyone felt.
Next: if the passenger was Catherine, what can we say about the life beyond her arrival?