Ellen Geaney attempted to save Emily McDougall from drowning, Bar Harbor, Maine, August 2, 1934. Miss McDougall, 31; Miss Geaney, 23, nursemaid, and another woman stood on a rock at the shore of the Atlantic Ocean, which at the scene was very cold and contained a strong undertow. Surf and spray were thrown by incoming waves that dashed over lower rocks there. Miss McDougall, who was on a slightly lower part of the rock than the others, suddenly was washed off by receding water from an unusually high wave and was carried back and forth in the turbulent water. Miss Geaney and the other woman plunged from the rock, swam to Miss McDougall, who threshed frantically at a point about 30 feet from the rock in water 30 feet deep, and took hold of her. Miss Geaney supported her for about two or three minutes but was unable to swim closer to shore, and the other woman again took hold of Miss McDougall. The three were then about 40 feet from shore. Miss Geaney was suffering from severe nausea and swam or drifted toward the shore and got hold of a rock 20 feet from the point at which she entered the water. As she clung to the rock, she was battered by the waves before she was pulled out. The other woman supported Miss McDougall across her body as they drifted farther out until a policeman with a rope tied around him swam to them, reaching them 85 feet from shore. The three were drawn to shore by men who held the rope. Miss McDougall was dead, and the other woman was exhausted. Miss Geaney sustained cuts, bruises, and shock and did not recover from nervousness for two months.
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34144-2883Obituary
Ellen “Nellie” McCool, 92, of West Roxbury, Mass., who died on June 21, 2003, once dove off a cliff at Thunder Hole in Bar Harbor, Maine, to save a young girl who was drowning. She braved rough water and clung to rocks as she held the girl and waited for help. The girl later died, but McCool, then known by her maiden name of Ellen Geaney, received the Carnegie Medal for her bravery.
Whether winning a political argument or hiding in ditches from British loyalists eager to capture Irish patriots, McCool held strong opinions and carried an air of confidence.
McCool moved from County Cork, Ireland, to Connecticut by herself at 16 to live with an aunt. She moved to Boston later, first living in Jamaica Plain before settling in West Roxbury, where she spent more than 40 years. She met her future husband while attending an Irish dance at Hibernian Hall in Roxbury’s Dudley Square. After nearly four years of attending Joseph McCool’s Irish football games and listening to native music together, they married and had four children.
McCool’s family loved her more for her abilities in the kitchen than for her heroism. She worked in a Stop & Shop bakery for 25 years, and her home was always buzzing with guests eager to gobble down her latest creation. McCool also loved gardening.
The role of government also intrigued McCool, who was a regular viewer of television’s “The O’Reilly Factor” and “Meet the Press.” McCool described herself as a Republican, but voted for Bill Clinton’s first term because the future president sent her a letter asking for her support.
McCool’s Irish upbringing and independent nature carried her throughout her life and became her hallmark to friends and family.
Burial was in St. Joseph Cemetery, West Roxbury.
(Edited from an obituary in The Boston Globe, June 28, 2003.)