Family History

After our visit to the Dunbrody yesterday, we wafted around New Ross in the rain, looking like Druid ghosts in our ponchos. As we crossed the bridge from the center of town to the Rosbercon section, heavy traffic passed us in both directions. Luke turned to me and said, as only a 12-year-old can, "Mom, the people in the cars are staring at us!" Yes, and we're dry. These ponchos are the one of the best purchases I've ever made.

Stop the presses: It's rained quite a bit since we've been in Ireland. To the point where the Irish are apologizing to us. "It's been cold here, even for us," said one of our relatives. But we don't mind. The rain is mostly gentle and when it's not, it's invigorating. The weather and atmosphere are so enchanting and ever changing here. More on this later.

It was John's good idea to pay a visit to New Ross, mainly because we have relatives that come from this area. With the help of his cousin who lives in Dublin, we set off in search for the grave of his grandmother's brother, Patrick Dunne. He is buried in the church cemetery in Rosbercon, the parish where John's grandmother was baptized in 1873. It was only 1.5 miles from our hotel, and the famine ship Dunbrody was on the way, so we decided to walk. With the help of Google maps and friendly Irishmen, we found the church, which wasn't the original. But there was a cemetery next to the church and look what was there.

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The grave of John's great uncle Patrick! And though his father Thomas is mentioned on the stone, we aren't sure if he is really here. Patrick's sister, Annie, who was John's grandmother, his dad's mother, came to the United States in 1892. She later sent for her mother, Johanna and another brother, Thomas. But many of the relatives stayed here.

We tromped around another nearby older cemetery, looking for other family graves. When we came up empty, we asked a gardener working across the street if he had any idea about where the Dunne's might be buried. He said no, but pointing to a building said, "Knock on that door and the owner will be able to help you." This is how we had the good fortune to meet Jamie Doyle of Doyle's Funeral Home. Jamie brought out some ancient-looking records that showed a Nellie Dunne buying a plot in a country cemetery.

The name Nellie Dunne is written on line two.

Jamie offered to take us there the next day and show us the Brownstown location where the Dunne's were from. "I lived in the United States for seven years," he said. He worked as a tiler, but came back to Ireland to take over his family's funeral home business. "People in the United States were so good to me," he said.

"You're cracked," he said when we told him we walked to the cemetery from Brandon House, where we were staying. "I'm headed there to take my daughter to swimming. I'll give you a lift." So we hopped in the back of his van, grateful to not have to walk home in the rain. As we passed the gardner who directed us to him, Jamie called out to him from the van," I've got the Americans in the back!"

John and I rode in the back of Jamie's van with the grave digging equipment. Luke was up front with Jamie and his darling daughter Sarah Kate.

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.