What Happened to the 1490 Roscommon Irish Immigrants Who Survived the 1847 Voyage to Canada

In 1847, 5000 Irish emigrants left Co Roscommon to escape the devastating grip of the Famine. This group left on four ships bound for Canada. Not all of them made it alive. Up until this year, the destiny of the 1490 who  survived was unknown.

They left Liverpool on four ships: the Virginius, Naomi, John Munn and the Erin’s Queen. Many died en route. Once the Strokestown Irish landed in Canada, many were interviewed by Canadian newspapers. A project run by the University of Maynooth has found out where a large number of these Irish people went, and uncovered their fate. 

On 11 May 2014, a memorial wall was unveiled containing the names of the 1,490 people who emigrated in 1847. An exhibition, Emigrant Faces from County Roscommon, was held at Strokestown, detailing the lives of more than 12 of the emigrants, such as Michaell Flynn, James Higgins and Thomas Fallon who fought in the American Civil War; Catherine O’Keefe, a Roscommon emigrant in Melbourne, Australia; and Patrick McNamara, a labourer on the construction of the Blue Ridge Mountain Railroad Tunnel.

Continue reading the story at Tracing the ‘missing 1490’ who fled Strokestown during the Famine

Credit: Image from The Journal showing names of a few of the immigrants