The Dunbrody Famine Ship

     Yesterday I went to the Barrow River in New Ross, home of the Dunbrody famine ship. This ship was built in Canada 1845 and it was originally used to transport cargo. But during the same year the great potato famine hit Ireland. Over a million people were dying from starvation. This is so because the average man ate twelve to fourteen pounds of potatoes a day and without any potatoes people couldn't get much food.

       The Dunbrody was turned into a passenger boat. The people on the boat were called emigrates because they were leaving Ireland to come to the United States and Canada. The boat held 130 to 300 passengers each trip.

       On the boat there were two classes of passengers, first class and second class. The first class people paid a little extra to stay in a safer part of the boat and to eat better. The second class people paid hardly anything so each family had to sleep in one six foot by six foot  bed and only eat bread and rice. When the weather was safe the first class people were able to go up on the deck whenever they wanted. The second class people were only allowed on the deck for only a half an hour to cook food.The second class people often died from cholera and tuberculosis while they were in the steerage part of the boat which was cold and dark.

       It took eight weeks to sail across the ocean in these "coffin ships". The death rate was frequently twenty percent. More people died on famine ships than on slave ships. The slaves were going to be sold so they were protected more then Ireland's starving people.

       In conclusion millions of people left Ireland during the great famine to start a new life. There are an estimated 35 million Irish Americans in the United States. Many people of Irish descent have become very successful during the last 150 years.