The Jeanie Johnston project is the most ambitious maritime heritage venture undertaken in Ireland in recent years. It involves the construction of a full-sized sailing replica of the famous Irish emigrant barque the "Jeanie Johnston" (1847-58) which carried Irish emigrants from Tralee, Southwest Ireland, to Baltimore, New York and Quebec during the famine years. Unlike the infamous 'coffin ships' of the period the Jeanie Johnston never lost a passenger or crew member during 16 trans-Atlantic voyages.

The replica ship was constructed at Blenerville, near Tralee, County Kerry by young people from Ireland, working under the supervision of experienced shipwrights. The Jeanie Johnston links Ireland, North and South; Unionist and Nationalist traditions; it ties Ireland with her extended communities in the United States and Canada; and harnesses the goodwill that exists in Britain, Continental Europe and North America. It provides job opportunities and skills training for unemployed young people, it safeguards traditional skills which are being lost, it focuses attention on Ireland's maritime heritage and commemorates a defining moment in the history of our island.

The Jeanie Johnston was the most famous of the Irish emigrant barques. She was built in Quebec in 1847 by the Canadian shipbuilder John Munn and bought shortly afterwards by the Donovan family of Tralee. She carried a full complement of 200 passengers and a crew of 17. 150 years ago the original Jeanie Johnston left Blennerville on her Maiden Voyage to the New World. Now that the proud emigrant barque is being re-created in Tralee and sailing to the United States and Canada during the Millennium Year, she will carry with her the hopes and good wishes of a new generation of Irish men and women.

The Master of the Jeanie Johnston was James Attridge, a member of a seafaring family from Castletownsend in County Cork. He was an experienced captain, having first gone to sea as a 15 year-old in 1820. He was attentive to the needs of his passengers, and the esteem in which he was held is evident from the fact that on no less than 6 occasions, the passengers, on arrival, published letters of appreciation in the Quebec Morning Chronicle. The passengers came predominantly from Counties Kerry, Cork and Limerick but the crew came from all over Ireland, Great Britain, the United States, and Canada.

Unlike many of the emigrant ships plying the Atlantic in the mid 19th century, the Jeanie Johnston employed a doctor on board. For emigrants who left Tralee in these years, the Jeanie Johnston was a trusted and reliable passenger ship. Overcrowding and disease were not to be found on the Jeanie Johnston; an unusual detail in the era of the 'coffin-ships'.

The passengers on the Jeanie Johnston reflect the trends in emigration from Ireland during the mid 19th century. Some were comfortable farmers and tradesmen escaping worsening conditions while they still could, in addition to small farmers just above the poverty line. Local landlords such as Sir Edward Denny and Nicholas Donovan (owner of the ship) provided assisted passage schemes for their tenants who had become inmates of the workhouse. There were people from large estates like the Earl of Kenmare's, whose passages were paid by a landlord anxious to clear his land of unprofitable tenants.

On the passenger list for the voyage to Baltimore the largest group were single women between the ages of 16 and 30: a striking feature of Irish emigration throughout the 19th century was the large number of single female emigrants. In three of the crew lists there are passengers from Tralee listed as crew members-emigrants who could not pay the 3 pound, 10 shilling fare and worked their passage to Quebec.

The Jeanie Johnston is a potent example of North-South / Cross-Community co-operation. Young people were drawn from Unionist and Nationalist traditions in Belfast were working side-by-side with young people from Dublin and Kerry at the shipyard site in Tralee. The young people were trained in a range of boatbuilding skills and obtain certification from FAS and the London City & Guilds. Young people from both communities have helped to crew the vessel on her Millennium Voyage to North America in May.

The project is being promoted by the broadly-based Jeanie Johnston Memorial Committee, a not-for-profit group, chaired by Dr. Henry Lyons of Tralee Institute of Technology. The total cost of the Jeanie Johnston project is five million pounds. Financial support was provided in part by The American Ireland Fund, who are proud to be associated with such a venture.

In the midst of its maiden voyage the Jeanie Johnston arrived in Nantucket harbor. The American Ireland Fund held an event on board the tall ship on Friday, July 7 2000, to honor Jack Dunfey. For anymore information on this event, please contact us.

Jeanie Johnston website