Bernard Kilkeary

Who is Bernard Kilkeary?

Bernard Kilkeary was Irish soldier and survivor of HMS Birkenhead.

Kilkeary was born in what is now Birr, County Offaly. He joined the British Army as a youth, serving in the 73rd Regiment of Foot. He was one of the few survivors of the Birkenhead which went down at two o'clock in the morning on 28 February 1852. He was aboard the cutter which rescued women and children as she sank. Twelve hours later, they themselves were rescued by the schooner, Lioness, of Cape Town.

Kilkeary spent thirty-two years as a soldier, all but two in non-commissioned ranks. He was a colour Sergeant with the 73rd, which he served with for twelve years and two hundred and one days. The remaining twenty years he spent in the Auxiliarys, his last corps being the Mid Ulster Artillery, of which he was the Paymaster Sergeant.

His active service included the 1852–53 Kaffir War, the battle of Berea and the Indian Mutiny.

As of 1902, he was residing at Dungannon, County Tyrone.