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| Dunbrody - a replica Famine Ship |
In the early years of the Potato Famine 1845 - 1851, many small ships departed Ireland from the southern and western ports and sailed directly to New York or Quebec. By 1851 there were often 15 ships per day sailing to North American from Liverpool. These were called Famine Voyages. Between 1846 and 1851, 2,227 ships completed 2,743 voyages and transported 651,931 Irish immigrants to New York alone.
The cargo vessel, Jeanie Johnston made her virst emigrant voyage from Blennerville, Co. Kerry to Quebec on 24 April 1848. She carried 193 emigrants on board.
As the effects of the Potato Famine ravaged Ireland, between 1848 and 1855, the Jennie Johnston made 16 voyages to North America, sailing to Quebec, Baltimore and New York. No crew or passenger lives were ever lost on the Jeanie Johnston.
Departures during the Potato Famine 1845 - 1851
Large numbers of Ireland's poor and starving emigrated to New York and Quebec because of the famine. From 1845 to 1850 about 1,500,000 people left Ireland.
This chaotic, panic-stricken and unregulated exodus was the largest single populaton movement of the nineteenth century. Thousands of emigrants died onboard 'coffin ships' during the Atlantic crossing during the years 1845 and 1846. These were little more than rotting hulks, and their owners were plying a speculative trade. There were 17,465 documented deaths in 1847 alone. Thousands more died at disembarkation centers such as Grosse Ile in Canada.
Coffin Ships
During the first year of the Potato Famine there was an immediate and mass immigration from Ireland. These vessels carried paupers from Irelands workhouses as well as starving tenant farmers, facing possible eviction from their property for non-payment. The passage for these early immigrants was paid by the landlords who owned much of the property in the districts where they resided. Because of the frantic and immediate mass exodus, especially from western Ireland, the poor and starving emigrants boarded what would later become known as "coffin ships". Crowded and disease-ridden, with poor access to food and water, resulted in the deaths of many people as they crossed the Atlantic and led to the 1847 North American typhus epidemic at quarantine stations in Canada. Owners of coffins ships provided as little food, water and living space as was legally possible- if they obeyed the law at all. The death rates as high as 30% on some of them.
Some idea of the conditions endured by people on coffin ships can be gleaned from the story of the Elizabeth and Sarah, which sailed from Co. Mayo in July 1847.
She carried 276 people, instead of the 212 listed, and had only 8,700 gallons of water for the voyage, instead of the 12,532 gallons she should have had. Each passenger was entitled to 7 lbs of provisions each week, but non was ever distributed. The 276 passengers shred 32 perths and there was no sanitation of any kind. The voyage to 8 weeks and as it arrived it broke down and had to be towed into the St. Lawrence River, Quebec. 42 people were dead onboard.
98% of the passengers travelled as steerage, 2% in cabins. The cargo was loaded first, then the cabin passengers and only when the ship was set to sail could steerage passengers board. Most of the passengers had never been on a ship before. Leaving was emotional as they caught their last glimpse of home.
Sailing Vessels - The Voyage
The usual Irish sea ports of which Irish emigrants proceed in order to take passage for the United States are Dublin, Cork, Belfast, Limerick, Galway and Waterford. The vessels that issue from these ports are badly provided with supplies necessary to preserve the health of the passengers. The accommodations are generally brigs, low between decks, badly ventilated and small in proportion to the number of passengers taken on board.
The cooking is performed on deck, over coal or wood fires, contained in long grates. The emigrants took turns at the fire preparing their food. Most emigrants used a long handled frying pan or a small pot, a light tin kettle, a coffee pot, a ladle, and a double tinned can for boiling potatoes, oatmeal etc. In stormy weather the fires could not be lit for fear of fire so food must be eaten cold, or already prepared. The storms seldom lasted longer than one or two days in succession.
Daily Routine
First - all male passengers to rise at a stated hour, 15 or 20 minutes given to dress below, washing to take place on the upper deck.
Secondly - the female passengers should then rise, act in like manner, and remove the beds and covering to the wst parts of the vessel above for the purpose of airing.
Thirdly - after the fires are lighted, one portion of the passengers should be engaged in scraping, sweeping and washing the floors and berths below while another set attends to the fires and cooking.
Fourthly - after meals the floors should be again swept and the dirt thrown overboard.
Fifthly - after night, or when expedient to retire for rest, the male passengers should go on deck at an appointed hour to allow the females to undress for the night, and at the time expired return for a like purpose.
Sixthly - the passengers should contribute for the purpose of employing some one or more of their number, to attend to the lighting of fires, supply of coal, regulation of turns for cooking purposes; A little salary should be paid every week, to ensure the faithful observance of these duties.
Most disagreements among passengers arise from the undue monopoly of fires.
Lastly - an energetic, active, influential person or number of persons, should be named, with irresponsible powers to put these regulations, or such others as might be deemed advisable, in force.
Medicines are furnished by the captain in case of sickness and any reasonable cause of complaint should be preferred to him, as he has the control of ship, crew and passengers.
When to emigrate should be based on choice of destination
Emigrants bound for Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Northern Illinois, Ohio, new York, Maine, New Hampshire and Connecticut might leave home by the first of april and not defer their start after the middle of August - the Northern Lakes, rivers and canals are seldom open, until the middle of April and often closed with ice on the first of November.
Many persons who arrive at the sea-ports are obliged to remain there during the winter, or pursue their journey to the interior through regions of snow, in the midst of winter, in vehicles open by day and night, the weather intensely cold, and the stages by which they are conveyed demand exorbitant fares.
The 1850 - Cunard ship line reduced travel time by two weeks
By the 1870s the development of steamships cut the travelling time, government regulation greatly improved the conditions and competition reduced the fares.
Length of the voyage on smaller sailing vessel
A ship starting from any of the British ports, to Boston, or New York will not make passage in six weeks; but this would not always be a safe calculation. The voyage to Quebec and New Orleans usually takes a longer time. This depends upon the winds, the trim and swiftness of the vessel, experience of the master, etc. Ten weeks is the longest time specified as deemed necessary for accomplishing the voyage to North America.
A Description of the Voyage
The cargo vessel, Jeanie Johnston made her virst emigrant voyage from Blennerville, Co. Kerry to Quebec on 24 April 1848. She carried 193 emigrants on board.
As the effects of the Potato Famine ravaged Ireland, between 1848 and 1855, the Jennie Johnston made 16 voyages to North America, sailing to Quebec, Baltimore and New York. No crew or passenger lives were ever lost on the Jeanie Johnston.
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| Jeanie Johnston - Replica of one of the original "Famine Ships" |
Large numbers of Ireland's poor and starving emigrated to New York and Quebec because of the famine. From 1845 to 1850 about 1,500,000 people left Ireland.
This chaotic, panic-stricken and unregulated exodus was the largest single populaton movement of the nineteenth century. Thousands of emigrants died onboard 'coffin ships' during the Atlantic crossing during the years 1845 and 1846. These were little more than rotting hulks, and their owners were plying a speculative trade. There were 17,465 documented deaths in 1847 alone. Thousands more died at disembarkation centers such as Grosse Ile in Canada.
Coffin Ships
During the first year of the Potato Famine there was an immediate and mass immigration from Ireland. These vessels carried paupers from Irelands workhouses as well as starving tenant farmers, facing possible eviction from their property for non-payment. The passage for these early immigrants was paid by the landlords who owned much of the property in the districts where they resided. Because of the frantic and immediate mass exodus, especially from western Ireland, the poor and starving emigrants boarded what would later become known as "coffin ships". Crowded and disease-ridden, with poor access to food and water, resulted in the deaths of many people as they crossed the Atlantic and led to the 1847 North American typhus epidemic at quarantine stations in Canada. Owners of coffins ships provided as little food, water and living space as was legally possible- if they obeyed the law at all. The death rates as high as 30% on some of them.
Some idea of the conditions endured by people on coffin ships can be gleaned from the story of the Elizabeth and Sarah, which sailed from Co. Mayo in July 1847.
She carried 276 people, instead of the 212 listed, and had only 8,700 gallons of water for the voyage, instead of the 12,532 gallons she should have had. Each passenger was entitled to 7 lbs of provisions each week, but non was ever distributed. The 276 passengers shred 32 perths and there was no sanitation of any kind. The voyage to 8 weeks and as it arrived it broke down and had to be towed into the St. Lawrence River, Quebec. 42 people were dead onboard.
98% of the passengers travelled as steerage, 2% in cabins. The cargo was loaded first, then the cabin passengers and only when the ship was set to sail could steerage passengers board. Most of the passengers had never been on a ship before. Leaving was emotional as they caught their last glimpse of home.
Sailing Vessels - The Voyage
The usual Irish sea ports of which Irish emigrants proceed in order to take passage for the United States are Dublin, Cork, Belfast, Limerick, Galway and Waterford. The vessels that issue from these ports are badly provided with supplies necessary to preserve the health of the passengers. The accommodations are generally brigs, low between decks, badly ventilated and small in proportion to the number of passengers taken on board.
The cooking is performed on deck, over coal or wood fires, contained in long grates. The emigrants took turns at the fire preparing their food. Most emigrants used a long handled frying pan or a small pot, a light tin kettle, a coffee pot, a ladle, and a double tinned can for boiling potatoes, oatmeal etc. In stormy weather the fires could not be lit for fear of fire so food must be eaten cold, or already prepared. The storms seldom lasted longer than one or two days in succession.
Daily Routine
First - all male passengers to rise at a stated hour, 15 or 20 minutes given to dress below, washing to take place on the upper deck.
Secondly - the female passengers should then rise, act in like manner, and remove the beds and covering to the wst parts of the vessel above for the purpose of airing.
Thirdly - after the fires are lighted, one portion of the passengers should be engaged in scraping, sweeping and washing the floors and berths below while another set attends to the fires and cooking.
Fourthly - after meals the floors should be again swept and the dirt thrown overboard.
Fifthly - after night, or when expedient to retire for rest, the male passengers should go on deck at an appointed hour to allow the females to undress for the night, and at the time expired return for a like purpose.
Sixthly - the passengers should contribute for the purpose of employing some one or more of their number, to attend to the lighting of fires, supply of coal, regulation of turns for cooking purposes; A little salary should be paid every week, to ensure the faithful observance of these duties.
Most disagreements among passengers arise from the undue monopoly of fires.
Lastly - an energetic, active, influential person or number of persons, should be named, with irresponsible powers to put these regulations, or such others as might be deemed advisable, in force.
Medicines are furnished by the captain in case of sickness and any reasonable cause of complaint should be preferred to him, as he has the control of ship, crew and passengers.
When to emigrate should be based on choice of destination
Emigrants bound for Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Northern Illinois, Ohio, new York, Maine, New Hampshire and Connecticut might leave home by the first of april and not defer their start after the middle of August - the Northern Lakes, rivers and canals are seldom open, until the middle of April and often closed with ice on the first of November.
Many persons who arrive at the sea-ports are obliged to remain there during the winter, or pursue their journey to the interior through regions of snow, in the midst of winter, in vehicles open by day and night, the weather intensely cold, and the stages by which they are conveyed demand exorbitant fares.
The 1850 - Cunard ship line reduced travel time by two weeks
By the 1870s the development of steamships cut the travelling time, government regulation greatly improved the conditions and competition reduced the fares.
Length of the voyage on smaller sailing vessel
A ship starting from any of the British ports, to Boston, or New York will not make passage in six weeks; but this would not always be a safe calculation. The voyage to Quebec and New Orleans usually takes a longer time. This depends upon the winds, the trim and swiftness of the vessel, experience of the master, etc. Ten weeks is the longest time specified as deemed necessary for accomplishing the voyage to North America.
A Description of the Voyage
"On each side of the vessel were two rows of bunks, one above the other. These were made of boards. Each bunk held two persons. They might properly be described as an upper and lower bunk running all around the ship. There was no light - no ventilation whatever, except that we got from two hatchways. Each immigrant was allowed by law thirthy three inches of room in width, but we didn't get it. Each ship was required to carry hard bread sufficient to give each passenger a pound a day. Had the bread been eatable it would have saved us but was not." [3]
"The food is generally unselected and seldom sufficiently cooked. The supply of water, hardly enough for cooking and drinking, does not allow washing. The narrow space between the sleeping berths and piles of boxes is never washed or scraped." [4]
The 1847 North American Typhus Epidemic
The typhus epidemic of 1847 was an outbreak of epidemic typhus because of the massive Irish emigration in 1847, during the Great Famine, aboard crowded and disease - ridden "coffin ships".
The following are accounts of the passage from Irish immigrants in who departed Ireland in 1847- 48 :
" I dare not describe further the disgusting condition of these ships wherein four hundred men, women and children were confined together without regard for sex, age or condition. Decency was a luxury and cleanliness of necessity neglected. Modesty made many sleep with their clothes on. Little wonder that the holds of these ships became hotbeds of disease. The foul pestilential air was the best conductor of germs. Before the ship was a day out at sea, the dread typhus or ship fever was raging in every vessel. Constitutions which were broken down and weakened by famine and its accompanying diseases became the easy prey of ship fever. Even the rugged and healthy soon fell victims to the unsanitary conditions." [5]
"The captains of these ships were ignorant of the methods of handling passenger vessels. They did not even use elementary sanitation, such as cleansing the holds, and allowing the fresh air to circulate through the ship. Had even this been done, hundreds of lives would have been saved. Deaths soon became a daily occurence. The sombre service of burial at sea became all too common. The sullen crew had to be compelled to commit these bodies to the sea. A sovereign a body overcame fear of the fever. Ireland was connected to Canada by a chain of dead bodies of her children -- old man and infant, parent and child, found a grave in the Atlantic." [5]
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| Queenstown Harbour, Co Cork |
Larger Passenger Ships who travel through Liverpool
Irish immigrants from southern Ireland departed from ports along the southern and western coast of Ireland. Many emigrants from Kenmare, Co. Kerry area left through the port in Queenstown Harbor in County Cork, then stopped in Liverpool before continuing on to North America.
The above photo was taken in the 1890s. If you click on the link under the photo you will be directed to an interactive map where you can explore the route from Ireland to Liverpool England.
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| Heartbreak Pier in Cobh, Co. Cork |
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| Immigration path from Queenstown Harbor to Liverpool then to New York or Quebec |
The above map shows the locations of Queenstown, Liverpool, New York and Quebec.
A Description of Arrival in New York
A Description of the Arrival in Quebec Canada
Grosse Ile Quarantine Station
The following is a list of the immigrant ships from Ireland as they arrived on Grosse Ile in May of 1845.
May 17, The Syria arrived carrying 241 passengers, 84 cases of fever on board and 9 having died on the voyage.
May 21st - Eight ships arrived with a total of 430 fever cases.
May 24th - Seventeen ships arrived, all passengers had fever.
There were now 695 immigrants in the hospital and 164 onboard ship waiting to be taken off.
May 26th - Thirty vessels arrived with 10,000 emigrants and were waiting at Grosse Ile.
May 31st - Fourty vessels were waiting, extending in a line two miles down the St. Lawrence.
About 1,000 cases of fever were on Grosse Ile in sheds, tents, and laid in rows in the little church. A further 45,000 emigrants were expected.
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| Quarantine Station at Grosse Ile |
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| Grosse Ile - Quarantine Station |
Sources:
The Irish Emigration of 1847 and it's Canadian Consequences, by John A Gallagher
National Library of Ireland - The Commons
The Catholic Church in the Niagara Peninsula, by Dean Harris, p 233
Grosse Ile Catholic Record, by M.J. O'Leary, London, Ont., 9 April 1892
Public Archives of Canada, State Book H, p. 35; minutes 8 Dec. 1847
Ask About Ireland
Wikipedia; Grosse Ile
The Irish Immigrant's Guide for the United States, by Rev. J. O'Hanlon; Published 1851O'Hanlan, an Irish priest wrote this guid for Irish emigrants to help them survive their ordeal of the famine ships. It was published in Boston in 1851
Mayo County Library, Ireland
Emigration Studies
The Irish Emigration of 1847 and it's Canadian Consequences, by John A Gallagher
National Library of Ireland - The Commons
The Catholic Church in the Niagara Peninsula, by Dean Harris, p 233
Grosse Ile Catholic Record, by M.J. O'Leary, London, Ont., 9 April 1892
Public Archives of Canada, State Book H, p. 35; minutes 8 Dec. 1847
Ask About Ireland
Wikipedia; Grosse Ile
The Irish Immigrant's Guide for the United States, by Rev. J. O'Hanlon; Published 1851O'Hanlan, an Irish priest wrote this guid for Irish emigrants to help them survive their ordeal of the famine ships. It was published in Boston in 1851
Mayo County Library, Ireland
Emigration Studies
