Posts Tagged ‘irish famine’
How Irish Coffin Ships changed Canada
An excellent article in the June/July issue of Canada’s History magazine, written by Don Cummer, tells the story of how in the 1840s thousands of Irish refugees fled the Great Hunger for a new life in Canada. It brought back memories of how in 2019 I spent a couple of months ranging around Ireland while…
Read MoreIt’s not all that far to Tipperary
It’s not that far to Tipperary — not if you start in Kilkenny. That’s what we did. The statue to the left commemorates John and Patrick Saul, two boys abandoned by their parents at the docks in Dublin. The butcher and his wife boarded a ship for Australia after first telling their sons, ages 15…
Read MoreThis ship carried thousands across the Atlantic
Here we have the Dunbrody Famine Ship in New Ross, County Wexford — one of the finest memorials of the Great Hunger in all Ireland. I’ve posted about visiting the EPIC emigration museum, the exhibition at St. Stephen’s Green, and the Jeannie Johnston. Since then the biggest surprise has been the Famine Exhibition in the…
Read MoreHow the Irish Famine Changed the World
The terrible parallels hit you like a bucket of cold water in the face — at least if you have been immersed for a while in Scotland’s Highland Clearances. Check out the image to the right. Looks like it could be from a Scottish Clearance in Sutherland or Glengarry, or perhaps Lewis, Uist or Barra.…
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