BIO: Elizabeth SULLIVAN's remains lie within sight and sound of the Shannon, flowing swiftly and majestically past. The weather-beaten marble headstone marking her burial place, partly obscured by a more recent headstone, bears the simple, poignant inscription: Sweet Jesus Grant Her Peace, Erected by Mr. and Mrs. WHYTE of Carrick-on-Shannon In Memory of Elizabeth Sullivan, Beloved daughter of Thomas and Julia Sullivan of Little Bray who died in faithful discharge of her duties as nurse at Hatley Manor, July 21, 1885, aged 18 years. Elizabeth's story is a sad and tragic one. On July 21, 1885, an unprecedented accident occurred in Leitrim's capital, Carrick-on-Shannon, an event which shocked and saddened the entire community and left an indelible memory in the minds and hearts of the people of the town and district for decades to follow. On that fateful July evening, Wicklow girl Elizabeth Sullivan, nurse and nanny to the children of the Whyte family, Hatley Manor, landlords of the town and district around Carrick-on-Shannon, lost her life in faithful discharge of her duties, when she was killed in a freak accident at Hatley Manor. The local newspaper, "The Leitrim Advertiser," in the issue of July 23, 1885, reported: "A most shocking accident occurred on Tuesday evening which cast a gloom over the town of Carrick-on-Shannon and its vicinity. Between six and seven o'clock in the evening a crash was heard at the residence of Mr. C. C. B. Whyte, D.L., Hatley Manor. Many of the townspeople rushed to s! ee what had occurred, and they discovered that a portion of Mr. Whyte's residence was wrecked. In the nursery, which was situated on the third floor, were four of Mr. Whyte's children and two nurses, one of the latter sitting at the window, when at the hour mentioned, an ornamental chimney fell through the roof, crashing through the nursery floor, the drawing-room, and on to the ground floor, bringing with it the four children and one of the nurses named Sullivan, the other nurse having had a miraculous escape, only the board on which she was standing at the window remaining. The large crowd which gathered seemed to be awestruck, until a man named Patrick McMANUS, of Drumshanbo, who happened to be in the town that day, made the first attempt to rescue the inmates, and he was soon joined by others. For some minutes McManus worked hard removing the debris, when he found the dead body of the nurse. In a few minutes after he recovered the body of one of the children, and a s! hort time after that of another. As each body was handed out the expressions of sorrow were many and deep. But as the explorers worked on, and McManus brought out two of the younger children alive, a feeling of thankfulness prevailed. Those children were only saved by a piece of masonry becoming jammed. One of the children had an arm broken. The deep sympathy that is felt for Mr. and Mrs. Whyte (who were away from home at the time of the occurrence) in their affliction is widespread, and shutters were at once put up throughout the town, which is another proof to the many of their popularity. Great credit to McManus for his praiseworthy exertions on the occasion. He is the same person who saved a man from drowning at Ballyheady bridge. On Wednesday, Felix QUINN, Esq. Coroner, held an inquest (Mr. Robert BOURNES, foreman) on the remains of Miss Ingri M. B. G. Whyte, aged 9 years, Lucille D. M. G. Whyte, aged one year and seven months, and Elizabeth Sullivan, the nursemaid, aged eighteen years. The following evidence was given: Kate HOGAN disposed - "About ten minutes past six o'clock yesterday evening I was sitting in the nursery at the window when the slates and ceiling fell to the nursery floor; a second flash of the slates and ceiling fell down through the nursery and drawing-room and on to the ground; each of the deceased were in the nursery at the time; after the second crash I missed the deceased children and the nurse; they had fallen through the nursery floor and the drawing-floor also. I then came downstairs and saw that the ceilings had fallen to the ground. I saw the deceased Elizabeth Sullivan and Miss Lucille Whyte taken out of the debris about a quarter of an hour later; they were quite de! ad. There were two other children of Mr. Whyte's in the nursery when the crash came, and they also fell through the floor but were not killed. " Patrick McMANUS deposed -- "I was in Carrick on Shannon on business between 6 and 7 o'clock. I heard a crash as I thought about Mr. WHYTE's premises. I did nothing till I saw a man running for the police. I then heard an alarm, and saw a crowd running with the police towards Mr. Whyte's house and I joined them. Seeing the hall suffocating with dust I called for a candle, but I then saw we had enough of light; I then began to clear the room that was filled with the slates and the ceilings of the rooms above it...I found two children alive afterwards, one with its arm broken, the other I found under a solid lump of masonry like part of a chimney." At the suggestion of Coroner the jury adopted the following: "We beg to express our deepest sympathy and heartfelt sorrow with Mr. and Mrs. Whyte in the sad bereavement which has befallen them, as also the parents of the poor girl who lost her life with them. The jury cannot separate without expressing in the strongest possible manner their approval of the courageous way in which Patrick McManus, of Drumshanbo, acted throughout the occasion in assisting to save the lives of the children, and the willing assistance rendered by everyone present." Elizabeth Sullivan was laid to rest in Jamestown's historic graveyard, three miles from Carrick, while the Whyte children, Ingri and Lucella, were interred in the grounds of Hatley Manor, in the family mausoleum erected by Ingrid Christina St. GEORGE, the Whyte children's Grand-Aunt, for the mortal remains of Charles Manners St. George, their Grand Uncle-in-law, laid to rest there some 20 years earlier. In recognition of his humane, heroic efforts, and selfless valour, Patrick McManus as presented with a solid gold pocket watch by the Whyte family, bearing the following inscription: "Gold watch presented to Patrick J. McManus, Drumshanbo, who, on July 21, 1885, risked his life, with other kind friends, to save the lives of Hilda and Petronella Whyte, Hatley Manor, Carrick-on-Shannon." The gold watch was in the possession of Tony DUIGNAN, Galway, a distant relative of the late Patrick J. McManus in 1996. Note - The graveyard of the historic village of Jamestown, near Carrick, was the scene of a famous Synod of Catholic Bishops in 1650, and captured by Patrick SARSFIELD during the Nine Years War. -- Leitrim Guardian (1996)