The Jeanie Johnston

I’ve been in Dublin for two days (feels like two weeks!) on my first trip with my new company. I had a bit of a gap between meetings so went aboard the Jeanie Johnston on the recommendation of a friend. It’s a replica of a ship which carried Irish migrants escaping the famine in the 1840s. We had a very knowledgeable guide who told the story of the ship and of the experience of migrants. I didn’t realise how awful just the crossing of the Atlantic was, most ships would carry 350 to 400 people in terrible cramped conditions and there were many deaths on these “coffin ships”. An estimated 100,000 people died trying to make the crossing.
On a positive note the captain and doctor on the Johnston were so humane and diligent that not a soul died on its voyages. I recommend a visit.