A Short History of Ireland's Famine by Ruán O'Donnell

Author:Ruán O'Donnell [O'Donnell, Ruán]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Europe, Ireland, Modern, General, Great Britain
ISBN: 9781847178299
Google: jBW6CgAAQBAJ
Publisher: The O'Brien Press Ltd
Published: 2015-09-08T00:35:29+00:00

ASSISTED PASSAGE AND THE ‘COFFIN SHIPS’

Evicted tenants and those in dire straits had very few options in 1847. Emigration was possible for those with some cash to spare and the residual stamina to reach the ports: Britain and North America were all deluged with wretched Irish immigrants. 50,000 arrived in Liverpool in March 1847, not much less than the normal annual outflow of Irishmen to North America from all ports. Internal migration was also considerable with Dublin, Limerick, Belfast and Cork receiving tens of thousands of starving migrants from the countryside.

Those who ventured across the Atlantic from Irish and British ports risked the hazards of travel in the so called ‘coffin ships’. Such vessels were predominately a phenomenon of 1847 when urgency was great and official vigilance low. Amendments to the American Passenger Acts in March 1847 temporarily reduced the historic attractiveness of the country as a first destination. Even so, tens of thousands still ventured the familiar migrant paths to New York, Baltimore and Boston. New regulations taxed ship owners with headage charges and demanded standards of accommodation that reduced the profits of carrying high numbers. The net effect was to increase the cost of travel to the United States to approximately £5 per person, whereas people conveyed in British ships to Canada could cross the Atlantic for less than £3 15 shillings.83 As price was a considerable factor for both emigrants and captains, there was a major increase in the number of Irish refugees opting for Canadian ports in 1847. All too often the migrants heading for Quebec and Montreal were conveyed on timber vessels returning from European voyages rather than more suitable general cargo ships. Persons bound for the United States at the same time were more likely to be carried in ships which had landed cotton and tobacco.84

Masters seeking Irish passengers frequently published advertisements in the regional press such as the Wexford Independent. These often exaggerated their tonnage in order to evade Passenger Act laws that restricted persons embarked to three persons per five registered tonnes. Given the near limitless demand in Ireland for places, such ships almost invariably exceeded the legal capacity with dire health consequences. The huge surge in sea traffic produced maritime tragedies of a more conventional nature. In early May 1847 the Exmouth foundered on the coast of Islay (Scotland) causing the death of over 240 people going from Derry to Quebec. Other vessels struck ice in Canadian waters when risk-taking captains ventured to sea outside the optimum season for crossing the Atlantic.

One of the most important and successful series of migrations commenced in March 1847 from the 80,000 acre Coolattin estate in south Wicklow. It was owned by Charles Fitzwilliam (5th Earl Fitzwilliam) who as Lord Milton in the early 1830s, was a prominent supporter of the Whig Reform Bill. William Thomas Spencer Fitzwilliam, the earl’s eldest son and MP for Wicklow in 1847, left the day to day running of Coolattin to Robert Challoner senior. With the backing of its owners, Challoner had taken a stand against sub-division on the estate.

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