Though cleared of blame by the official British inquiry, Ismay never recovered from the
Titanic disaster. Already emotionally repressed and insecure before his voyage on
Titanic, the tragedy sent him into a state of deep depression from which he never truly emerged. He kept a low profile afterwards. He lived part of the year in a large cottage,
Costelloe Lodge, in the townland of Derrynea (near
Casla) in
Connemara,
County Galway, Ireland which he bought from Henry Rudolph Laing of
Cadogan Gardens, London, in January 1913, less than a year after the sinking. The purchase also included the fishing rights for the river and lake adjoining it. Paul Louden-Brown, in his history of the White Star Line, writes that Ismay continued to be active in business, and that much of his work was for the Liverpool & London Steamship Protection & Indemnity Association Limited, an
insurance company founded by his father. According to Louden-Brown: Ismay maintained an interest in maritime affairs. He inaugurated a cadet ship called
Mersey used to train officers for
Britain's Merchant Navy, donated £11,000 to start a fund for lost seamen, and in 1919 gave £25,000 (approximately equivalent to £ in ) to set up a fund to recognise the contribution of merchant mariners in the
First World War. After the tragedy, Ismay's wife Florence ensured the subject of
Titanic was never again discussed within the family. His granddaughter, historian and author Pauline Matarasso, likened her grandfather to a "corpse" in his later years: In his personal life, Ismay became a man of solitary habits, spending his summers at his Connemara cottage and indulging in a love of trout and salmon fishing. When in Liverpool, he would attend concerts by himself at
St George's Hall or visit a cinema, at other times wandering through the Liverpool parks and engaging transients in conversation. A family friend observed that the spectre of
Titanic was never far from Ismay's thoughts, saying that he continually "tormented himself with useless speculation as to how the disaster could possibly have been avoided." At a Christmas time family gathering in 1936, less than a year before Ismay's death, one of his grandsons by his daughter Evelyn, who had learned Ismay had been involved in maritime shipping, enquired if his grandfather had ever been shipwrecked. Ismay finally broke his quarter-century silence on the tragedy that had blighted his life, replying: "Yes, I was once in a ship which was believed to be unsinkable." , London (2014)
Gravestone inscriptions: They that go down to the sea in ships and occupy their business in great waters These men see the works of the Lord and His wonders in the deep To the glory of God and in memory of Bruce Ismay died October 17, 1937 his wife Julia Florence Ismay died December 31, 1963 Ismay's health declined in the 1930s, following a diagnosis of
diabetes, which worsened in early 1936 when the illness resulted in the amputation of his right leg below the knee. He subsequently usually used a wheelchair. On the morning of 14 October 1937, he collapsed in his bedroom at his residence in
Mayfair, London, after suffering a massive
stroke, which left him unconscious, blind and mute. Three days later, on 17 October, Ismay died at the age of 74. Ismay's funeral was held at
St Paul's Church, Knightsbridge, on 21 October 1937, and he is buried in
Putney Vale Cemetery, London. He left a very considerable personal estate, which, excluding property, was valued at £693,305 (approximately equivalent to £ in ). In March 1939, his wife Florence conveyed the property in Connemara unto their son George Bruce Ismay (including the fishery rights extending from the sea to the Lake of
Glenicmurrin via the River Casla). After his death, Florence renounced her
British subject status in order to restore her American citizenship on 14 November 1949. Julia Florence Ismay,
née Schieffelin, died 31 December 1963, aged 96, in
Kensington, London. == Portrayals ==