Remember forgotten flu dead
Sir — Alan O’Keeffe’s article “Forgotten by history, how flu became a deadly plague” (Sunday Independent, May 6) struck a chord with our family on a day when we were remembering the 100th birthday of my late father. Within eight weeks of his birth, three of his siblings had died of flu.
“What are we doing in July 2018 to commemorate the centenary of the deaths of our uncles and aunt?” was an out-ofthe-blue 2016 email inquiry from a cousin.
Shortly afterwards, he emailed me copies of memorial cards with details of the deaths of our uncles and aunt. I hardly knew of their existence.
Our grandparents must have suffered greatly as they watched helplessly while their children aged one, three and five died. As a family we have sought out all our grandparents’ descendants and organised a gathering in July which will start with Mass at what was their parish church.
Given that the events being commemorated are 100 years old, the generation being remembered have all long since departed, along with several of the next generation: my generation.
In our case the project has been a huge family exercise, bringing together for the first time many first cousins who hardly knew one another.
Powered by social media, it certainly brought greater knowledge of second and third cousins.
Computer access to census data has proved a boon to amateur sleuths wanting to know more about their ancestry.
Sadly, my suggestion to church authorities that it might be a good idea for a similar gathering Mass at the forthcoming World Meeting of Families in Dublin, the city in which my ancestors and so many others died in July and August 1918, fell on deaf ears — and this despite the fact that 50m innocent civilians died worldwide.
On a wider point, it is interesting how Irish, British and European nations have concentrated on celebrating the deaths of soldiers in World War I and yet seem prepared to ignore the greater number of deaths from The Great Flu that followed almost immediately on and, in turn, devastated even more innocent lives and families.
Alan Whelan,
Killarney,