To America Or Die (Sailing / Yachting in General)

Member Name: kenjohn

Product:	Sailing / Yachting in General
Date:	25/05/04 (49 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A truly fascinating piece of living history

Disadvantages: Not a thing

~ ~ The original Jeanie Johnston was a ?famine ship? built in Quebec in Canada in 1847, by a Scottish-born shipbuilder called John Munn.
The new Jeanie Johnston is a totally authentic, full-size reproduction of the original sailing ship built right here in Ireland, at Blennerville, near Tralee, County Kerry. The new ship was built by the young people of Ireland, both North and South, and from both the Unionist and Nationalist traditions, to commemorate the countless thousands of Irish people who sailed (and the many who died!) on ships like the Jeanie Johnston to start a new life in the USA and Canada during the Great Famine of the mid-19th Century.

~ ~ To even begin to understand the background as to why this new ship was built, you really have to first understand a little about Irish history, and in particular the Great Famine that completely decimated the country in 1845.
The Great Famine, or ?An Gorta Mor? in Irish, began in September 1845, when a potato blight hit the country, having crossed the Atlantic from the USA where it began in 1843.
This blight caused potatoes to literally rot in the ground, and the Irish potato harvest of 1845 was reduced by upwards of 50%. As the potato was the staple diet of the vast majority of the Irish people at that time, the result of this blight was absolutely catastrophic. The country was devastated, and people began to starve in their hundreds of thousands.
Ireland (both North and South) was at that time under British colonial rule, with the vast majority of the arable land being owned by absentee landlords, who let out plots of land to the indigenous population. They grew cash crops for their lords and masters, and in return were allowed a few fields to grow their own food
, primarily potatoes. When the Famine hit, the British landlords refused to allow their tenants to eat any of their valuable cash crops, which were harvested and exported in the usual way.
Rents couldn?t be paid, as tenant farmers used what little money they had to try to obtain food to feed themselves and their families, and mass evictions resulted.

~ ~ To give you an idea of the severity of the Famine, compare the population of Ireland in 1845 with its present level. In 1845, there were approximately 8.5 million people living in the country. At the last census taken here in the Republic (2002) there was just approaching 4 million. So more than 150 years later, the population is still only half of its size in 1845!
The only means of escape for most of the Irish was to emigrate overseas, mostly to the USA and Canada, and the only way they could do this was by sea, in sailing ships like the Jeanie Johnston.
It is estimated that over 2 million Irish emigrated between 1845 and 1855, and that a further one million died of starvation! By the time the Famine began to recede in 1851, a million Irish people had emigrated to the USA, with a further 250,000 taking up residence in Canada. By 1860, about a quarter of all the 800,000 inhabitants of New York City were Irish-born!

~ ~ Conditions aboard the ?famine ships? were extremely harsh, with many families sharing a six-foot square berth. (Upwards of six people to a bunk!)
Most were already starving and suffering from malnutrition, and they had to endure an Atlantic sea crossing that lasted an average of 47 days, often in severe weather conditions, with little food, poor lighting and ventilation, and no toilet facilities.
Once they reached the ?promised land? on the other side of the ocean, they had to further endure many more weeks and mo
nths of deprivation in the quarantine stations (such as Grosse Isle in Canada) that were set up to house them, to protect against the spread of infectious disease. (Cholera was rife, and a huge killer!) In 1847 alone it?s estimated that over 50,000 Irish people died either at sea or in the quarantine stations before they even got the chance to set foot in the USA or Canada as free men.

~ ~ The Jeanie Johnston was unique in that there was not a solitary life lost at sea during the sixteen voyages she made during the period 1848 to 1855. During that time she carried more than 2,500 Irish emigrants from her home port of Blennerville in Co. Kerry to a new life in America.
Much of this was due to an excellent Captain (James Attridge) and an even better ship?s doctor, (Doctor Richard Blennerhassett) who were noted for their humanity and compassion. In fact, one of the first questions a prospective passenger often asked was ?Does Doctor Richard Blennerhassett sail with the ship this voyage??
It was not easy for an Irish emigrant to afford the £3.10 shillings fare to Quebec aboard the Jeanie Johnston, as in Famine times this was close to six month?s wages for the average Irish labourer! Often, the fare was paid by a family member who had already emigrated, and who sent the required money for the passage back home to Ireland. It is estimated that in 1850 alone more than £1 million ($1.6 million) was sent back to Ireland from America to finance further emigration, a huge sum of money in those times!

~ ~ The original Jeanie Johnston was sold in 1855 by its Co. Kerry based owners, John Donovan and Sons, to William Johnson of North Shields in England, when she reverted to use as a cargo vessel.
In 1858, she was returning from
Quebec to Hull with a load of timber when the ship became waterlogged. The crew had to climb the topmasts and cling on for dear life for over nine days as the ship slowly sank under them, until a Dutch ship, the Sophie Elizabeth, eventually rescued them.

~ ~ Thus ended the eventful 11-year history of the Jeanie Johnston, until in 1993 it was decided to build a faithful replica of the original vessel. The project was funded from various sources, including the Irish Government, the European Union, various state agencies and local authorities, corporate institutions, and from thousands of small public donations from both people here in Ireland and of Irish extraction in America and Canada.
It was one of the most ambitious shipbuilding projects ever undertaken here in Ireland. The design of the vessel was entrusted to Fred M. Walker, who was formerly the Chief Naval Architect at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England. The ship was built over a nine-year period, being completed in 2002, at its original homeport of Blennerville in Co. Kerry. Young people from Ireland, the USA and Canada, the UK, and from around the globe were employed to build the ship, under the supervision of a team of experienced carpenters and shipwrights.
The result is a truly splendid sailing ship of some 154 feet in length, with 3 main masts and 18 sails, and weighing some 510 tons. The ship is as true a replica as possible, with Canadian Douglas fir, oak and pine being used in its construction. Some modifications were unavoidable, in order to comply with modern safety regulations. As a result, the new Jeanie Johnston has two 280hp diesel engines to supplement its sails, two electrical generators, and 4 steel bulkheads, 6 watertight doors, and 5 fire doors to ensur
e her safety on the high seas.

~ ~ In 2003, the new Jeanie Johnston made her maiden voyage, and during a nine-month trip she visited over 30 ports in five different countries, crossing the Atlantic to visit Quebec, where her famous ancestor was built, and Grosse Isle, where a moving ceremony took place in honour of the thousands of Irish emigrants who dies there so many years ago. She was visited by countless thousands of Americans, Canadians, and other nationalities, and is truly a ?floating ambassador? for her home country of Ireland.
On returning home, she berthed at Custom House Quay here on the River Liffey in the centre of Dublin city, where she opened her decks and holds to the general public over the Christmas and New Year holiday period.

~ ~ I visited the Jeanie Johnston with my wee lass and three of her school friends in early January 2004, and was totally captivated and entranced by this piece of floating history brought back to life by the endeavour and patience of so many Irish people. (Both here and in America and Canada)
The ship is truly spectacular, and both above and below decks a magnificent effort has been made to recreate as closely as possible what it was like for the poor Irish emigrants who sailed on her all those years ago. Life size dummies of actual passengers (taken from the original ship?s log) were used show how people lived in those times, and the squalor and degradation they had to endure during the 48-day crossing of the Atlantic.
An audio commentary was broadcast to let you know what you were looking at, and was most informative. I was particularly impressed by the enormous attention to detail, and by the craftsmanship that had gone in to building this fascinating vessel.

~ ~ The cost of the visit was nominal, (only ?5 for a family ticket) but I
got my ticket free as part of a promotion at my local petrol station.
Currently, the Jeanie Johnston is berthed in Cork, and is not open to the general public. But there are plans to put her on display again at various locations throughout the country over the coming years. If you?re planning a visit to Ireland, then you can check out whether or not she is currently open to the public at their excellent website, http://www.jeaniejohnston.ie
This is one attraction you really don?t want to miss if you ever get the opportunity.

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Copyright KenJ 2004

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