Jeremiah was one of nine children born to William and Catherine (Kate) Burke, seven of whom survived childhood. He was from Upper Glanmire, County Cork, Ireland. Two of his sisters had immigrated to the United States, and he was looking forward to joining them once he got enough money for his passage. His prayers were answered when he got a letter from Charlestown, Massachusetts, with the requisite money inside. Jeremiah's cousin Nora Hegarty decided to join him, though after a brief stay in Charlestown they would separate and Nora would go on to Boston, where she was planning to join a convent. Jeremiah perished on the Titanic at age nineteen, along with Nora, who was only a year older than he was. Amazingly, in the early summer of 1913, a message in a bottle washed up at Dunkette, on the banks of the Glanmire and Lee rivers. The Burkes were contacted and confirmed it was Jeremiah's handwriting. The date was unclear, though it may have been after disaster struck, as his family felt he wouldn't have just thrown a bottle of holy water from his mother overboard unless something very serious were wrong. The bottle the note was written in was identified by his mother as being the holy water bottle she'd given him the day he'd left on his voyage. The note was lovingly carefully framed and remains a treasured heirloom in Jeremiah's family.
Jeremiah was one of nine children born to William and Catherine (Kate) Burke, seven of whom survived childhood. He was from Upper Glanmire, County Cork, Ireland. Two of his sisters had immigrated to the United States, and he was looking forward to joining them once he got enough money for his passage. His prayers were answered when he got a letter from Charlestown, Massachusetts, with the requisite money inside. Jeremiah's cousin Nora Hegarty decided to join him, though after a brief stay in Charlestown they would separate and Nora would go on to Boston, where she was planning to join a convent. Jeremiah perished on the Titanic at age nineteen, along with Nora, who was only a year older than he was. Amazingly, in the early summer of 1913, a message in a bottle washed up at Dunkette, on the banks of the Glanmire and Lee rivers. The Burkes were contacted and confirmed it was Jeremiah's handwriting. The date was unclear, though it may have been after disaster struck, as his family felt he wouldn't have just thrown a bottle of holy water from his mother overboard unless something very serious were wrong. The bottle the note was written in was identified by his mother as being the holy water bottle she'd given him the day he'd left on his voyage. The note was lovingly carefully framed and remains a treasured heirloom in Jeremiah's family.
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