What were Coffin Ships?
Thousands Died on the Journey from Ireland to America.
An Gorta Mor
There had been Irish emigrants traveling on this route since the early 18th century and by the time of the Famine, ( An Gorta Mor), there were established communities that a new emigrant could head for. Initially , the ships were trading vessels bringing supplies into Irish ports and heading back to America under ballast. The main trade into Northern Ireland was flax seed and timber. The flax seed was needed for the linen trade while England had already consumed the stock of indigenous Irish timber during the Industrial Revolution and Napoleon was blocking their use of timber from Europe.
By knocking up a few bunks , Ship's Masters were delighted to have a 'ballast' that could walk on board under its own steam. Many emigrants who were unused to beds; sleeping on rushes on the ground, saw the bunks as coffins and refused to sleep in them, preferring to to sleep on the deck instead.
In the main, it was the second eldest son who set out for the New World. He would often have been afforded an 'American Wake', a party to which friends and relations were invited because it was thought likely they would never see him again.
No Irish Need Apply
At the port , he would face inspection by the Ship's Mate who could refuse him if he felt he was bringing any disease on board. He would risk being with other passengers who might be diseased in crowded and unhygienic conditions for up to six weeks. Finally, he would have to find work in a strange country whose language may have been alien to him, where the phrase 'No Irish Need Apply' was very much in evidence.
Money from America
This was a well known epigram throughout Ireland. Often the money was used to develop chain emigration; money sent home for another family member to move to America. The money was also used to pay rents on farms, to buy livestock, for wedding dowries or to clear shop debts.
In 1846, over $1,000,000 was remitted to Ireland in drafts for passages from the cities of New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore; a huge amount of money sent home by people who had traveled out to America as laborers and servants.
Passenger Ships
Eventually , ships were built to accommodate passengers. The space between decks gradually increased from four foot six inches , normal for a timber ship, to five , then six and finally seven feet.
However , too many people were crowded into cramped conditions without any care for hygiene. What was discovered too late was that the disease carrier which killed most people on board the ships were lice which infested the clothes they had brought with them. The conditions on board were ideal breeding grounds for dysentery, cholera and typhus.
Grosse Isle
The worst recorded disaster of typhus was at Grosse Isle , a quarantine station outside Quebec.
In the winter of 1847, there were at one time ,40 ships lying at anchor, filled mainly by people who had been part of the Land Clearances in the West of Ireland, waiting to pass through quarantine.
Doctor Douglas, medical superintendent at Grosse Isle , submitted his report of activity on December 27th 1847. He had inspected 442 vessels and taken 8,691 emigrants into the hospital, shed and tents erected on the island.
According to his report , 3,238 people died on the island , victims of the Coffin Ships.
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