Father Francis Browne was an Irish Roman Catholic priest who traveled to Cobh, Ireland in April of 1912 to photograph the R.M.S. Titanic as it made a brief stop; its last port of call before proceeding on its voyage. Although the ship was registered in England, Ireland holds a special fondness for Titanic: it was built in Belfast, and many of its passengers were Irish immigrants on their way to what they hoped would be a better life in the U.S. Father Browne died in 1960, his photographs stored in a large black metal trunk in the basement of Irish Jesuit Provincial’s House. In 1985, the same year the Titanic wreck was discovered, Father Edward O’Donnell came across Father Browne’s metal trunk, which also contained a number of other photographs and negatives. But, his Titanic photographs captured everyone’s attention. Father Browne’s photographs have been published and exhibited around the world and he is now recognized not only as the greatest photographer in Ireland of the first half of the 20th century but an outstanding photographer of world stature. Here are some of his pictures of life aboard Titanic.
A boy plays aboard the deck of the Titanic
A Queenstown vendor sells Irish lace aboard the Titanic
A U.S. doctor inspects passenger’s eyes
Major Frank Brown
Members of the Titanic crew pose with lifejackets
Passengers from steerage settle on deck aboard the Titanic
The bedroom in the Browne suite aboard the Titanic
The gymnasium
Men waiting for jobs possibly transferring mail
The last photo of the Titanic taken by Father Francis Browne
Father Francis Browne
Chief Writing Wolf 