Recreation of the Proud 19th Century Emigrant Ship
The Jeanie Johnston plied out of the small port of Tralee, County Kerry in South West Ireland. Built in Quebec in 1847 for the Donovan family of Tralee, she was no "coffin Ship" but a stout tripple-masted barque, 32 metres long, constructed of oak and pine, displacing 700 tons and with a full complement of 200 passengers and 17 crew. And so the people of Ireland have decided to salvage the memory of the Jeanie Johnston by building a replica and sailing her to Canada and the United States and the ports she once served so faithfully.
Of all Ireland's emigrant vessels, the Jeanie Johnston (1847-1858) was one of the most famous and had the proudest record. On her 16 voyages, to Baltimore, New York and Quebec between 1848 and 1855 she never lost a passenger to disease or to the sea. And even when she sank, waterlogged at last, in 1858, she went down slowly in the mid-Atlantic and all aboard were rescued.
Ireland has never forgotton her famine victims; almost every family has personal experiences and recollections. But at this time those recollections are more pointed. The 150th Anniversary has been declared a time of official and formal remembrance. And so historical research has been renewed and events have been re-enacted.
