Funeral lays 21 Irish Famine victims to rest in Canada

172 years after the Carrick coffin ship from Sligo sank off Cap-des-Rosiers, in Quebec the remains of 21 Irish victims of the Great Hunger, mainly women, and children, were laid to rest

The  Carricks had been transporting 180 people from Sligo in 1847, at the height of Ireland’s Great Hunger, when it sank just off the coast of Canada. Only 48 passengers survived, 87 others were buried in a mass grave.

Irish Memorial to the victims of the shipwreck

The bones of three children washed up on the shore in 2011 after a harsh storm, and the remains of another 18 individuals were unearthed in 2016 before a beach restoration. Bones from 21 individuals found over 5 years suggest rural Irish origins based on diet.

TheShipsList.com tells us that:

We are indebted to Messrs. Pembertons for the following extract of a letter giving the melancholy account of the loss of the brig Carricks, of Whitehaven. R. Thompson, master, from Sligo to this port, with passengers:--
"Cape Rosier, 19^th May, 1847.
"I am sorry to inform you that the brig Carricks, was wrecked about four miles to the eastward of this place, and shocking to relate, out of 167 passengers, only 48 reached the shore-the crew, except one boy, were all saved. Little will be saved, but what there is, together with the wreck, will be sold for the benefit of all concerned on Saturday next."-(Exchange Register.)

 

The Great Famine - Emigration out of Ireland

Between 1845 and 1855 almost  2.1 million people fled Ireland. Most sailed across the Atlantic for North American on what came to be known as "coffin ships". It is estimated that over 80,000 Irish emigrants died en route to a new home in Canada and America.

Dr Ciarán Ó Murchadha writes about the Irish Famine and emigration in his book, Great Famine: Ireland's Agony 1845-1852 available in both Kindle and hardcover on Amazon.com

[Source: New facts about Great Famine emigration out of Ireland revealed]

Do you have Irish ancestors who left Ireland in this time period? I do. My 2nd great grandfather Joseph McGinnis left Co. Down with his wife Fanny Downey and their one year old daughter Bridget (aka Delia) in 1846. They arrived in Ontario Canada sometime that summer and joined a large McGinnis family who had left Ireland in the 1830s. 

It must have been an unbearably difficult journey for all the poor Irish families who left, and incredibly torturous for those left behind.  If you are looking for your Irish ancestors arriving in Canada, the following databases may be of some help.

Irish Canadian Emigration Records, 1823-1849 This database on Ancestry.com contains various records and reports of Canadian emigration agents James Allison and A.J. Buchanan. Among the various records are some emigration and orphan lists. These lists are searchable by name. The two collections in this database are: Neilson collection [Records of James Allison, Emigrant Agent at Montreal, 1823-1845 Vol. 21 and 1846-1849 Vol. 22] & Emigration Agent Returns of Emigrant Orphans, 1847  

You can also request a search for your ancestor in the following Books of Immigration and Ships Passenger Lists Records from the following books.

• [BOOK 1] Names of Emigrants 1845-1847. Records of James Allison, Emigrant Agent at Montreal (Quebec Canada)
• [BOOKS 2-4] Canada Company Remittance Books 1843-1847 in 3 Volumes.
• [BOOK 5] Index of Passengers Who Emigrated to Canada between 1817 and 1849.

Also see the free Index of Names of Irish Emigrants from the 1845-1847 Records of James Allison, Emigrant Agent at Montreal