The Dunbrody, a famine ship

We made an unplanned detour to New Ross, a town of about 6,000 in County Wexford in the southeast of Ireland. New Ross is from where Patrick Kennedy, great grandfather of John F. Kennedy emigrated to the United States. It is also the home of the Dunbrody, a replica famine ship, that is docked on the Barrow River.

Below are some photos of our experiences touring the ship. Don't skip the last photo, especially you Jean Gorman Bachler.

For many of us, our ancestors came to America on a boat. John had a grandmother and I had a great grandmother who lived in the New Ross area and emigrated to the United States. We wonder if they started their journey from New Ross on a ship like the Dunbrody.

The Great Famine of the late 1840's contributed to the deaths of one million people in Ireland. From 1845 to 1855, more than two million people left Ireland for Britain, Canada, Australia, and most of all, the United States. The famine is a major reason why there are now 35 million people of Irish descent living in the United States.

The Dunbrody was built in Canada, originally as a cargo ship. It was "converted" to a passenger ship when the devastation of the famine hit and would transport 200 people at a time. A typical voyage took eight weeks.

Our excellent guide Jason telling us that most of those 200 passengers, who were second class, only got to see this deck for about a half hour a day.

This is where the bulk of the Dunbrody's passengers spent 23 and a half hours of each day. Every family was allotted a bunk, six feet by six feet. Families, often ten or more people, would stay in this space. Many of the people were weak from the famine and often sick with diseases like typhus and cholera. 

Most of the passengers on the Dunbrody were children. Often their parents were tenant farmers. When the potato crop went bad, there was no farming work to be done. Some owners of the farms, who could afford to, would pay passage for their tenants on these ships. Other landlords turned the people out.

Luke showing where the people cooked their food on deck. Food was hard bread. One bucket served as a toilet for 20 people. As John said of the ship tour, "It's very humbling." We don't really understand how anyone, healthy or not, could survive the trans-Atlantic trip on these ships. And many people didn't. That's why they're called coffin ships.

First class passengers often had their own bunks and much better meals, including meat and fish. They got to eat at the captain's table and spend more time on deck. The Dunbrody is a good metaphor for the world.

Captain Luke steering the Dunbrody.

He guides the ship down the river.

I only saw one passenger of the Dunbrody described by name, in the exhibits: Ann Morrissey. And look where she ultimately went to in the States! She was married in St. Patrick's, the same parish, where Mary Ann (Annie) Dunne, John's grandmother, was also married after she also came to Peoria from the New Ross area.