Jeanie Johnston
One of the many things I wanted to see while visiting Ireland was the Jeanie Johnston. It is a replica of a famine ship that transported many to Canada and America. She was originally built on the banks of the St. Lawrence River in Quebec. During the famine years, she brought emigrants one way and timber back to Ireland.
We took a tour of her replica which currently resides on the river Liffey, in Dublin Ireland. The tour lasts about 50 minutes; we were lucky as there were only four of us on the tour. This gave more time to ask questions about the ship, her hauls and her cargo.
The great thing about this tour is a lot of facts are shared, as well as stories of some of those that actually sailed on her. The lower deck, though built to todays standards, shows how emigrants would have to sleep (sometimes up to five in a bad). They also showed us how much food each person was fed on their trip.
The Jeanie Johnston never had one casualty in all of her sailings. This is a rarity during the famine era. The reason for this is that not only did she have a great captain, she also had a doctor aboard throughout her time on the seas. This was truly above and beyond what the normal was during the famine times.
If you are visiting Dublin, I highly recommend you taking some time to visit the Jeanie Johnston.
