in this video we're going to look at the conditions on board a typical famine ship
from the 1800s and we'll also look at some of the benefits and opportunities that america
offered irish immigrants in the 19th century that were fleeing poverty hunger and persecution
inflicted on them by the british in order to assist me in the making of this video
i paid a visit to the dunbrody famine ship experience in new ross co. wexford last week
i can only describe this as an áit iontach a wonderful place
agus meallan sé a lán turasóirí = and it attracts a lot of tourists or a lot of visitors
I was treated to a private tour by two fantastic guides jason and adam who did an amazing job because they were so
friendly knowledgeable and enthusiastic if you're anywhere near the southeast of ireland this place
is well worth a visit i'd highly recommend it for more information check out www.donbrody.com
the irish for a famine ship is long ó thréimhse an ghorta that literally means a ship from the times
of hurt long ó thréimhse an ghorta a famine ship, new ross was a thriving port town in the 1800's
the irish for port is calafort gnóthach agus rathúil busy and thriving gnóthach is
busy and rathúil is thriving or a place where there's lots of activity boisterous and bustling let's say
rírá is hustle and bustle rírá, this first part of the tour gives us a flavor of what new
ross port was like in the 1800s people would often wander down here to the docks to take
in the hustle and bustle as they too probably contemplated a voyage across the atlantic ocean
he was contemplating or he was thinking bhí sé ag smaoineamh turas farraige = a sea voyage
deis is an opportunity deis and deiseanna is the plural of that opportunities
beidh neart deiseanna ann = there'll be lots of opportunities there
so before long roimh i bhad before long it will be time to get your ticket inspected by the ticket
inspector cigire ticéad the ticket inspector and very soon the emigrants
would be taking their last steps on irish soil an t-am deirneach ar thalamh na hÉireann
their last time on the ground of ireland
before we look at the conditions on board the dunbrody famine ship let's hear some
personal stories from some of the emigrants forced to leave this green and fertile land
i'm the last of the o'sullivans left in this hill of knock.....
my older brothers and sisters are bringing me out to new york
my mother wouldn't go into the workhouse they would have taken the youngest children
away from her they've had the fever and weak from the hunger hadn't the strength to fight it
dear bridgey life is so good here in boston dr smith and his wife treat me like one of the family
having worked in the big house you will fit in here with no bother
they have given me your fare which i'm sending in this letter you can pay it
back out of your wages over the next two years can't wait to see you your loving sister annie
i will get little enough food during the voyage so i have cooked this bread three times
it is now as hard as slate but it will last for the length of the journey
the landlord is giving the passage to me as he wants to be rid of us
and use the land for grazing cattle i am sure he will look after the cattle better than his tenants
at least the grass will always grow and he can sell the cattle
we are lucky to be alive and have survived the winter shook with the story good morning
only for the good quakers who gave us this yellow meal which was sent from america we would all
have died surely we could have had soup from the local landlord if we were willing to give up our
catholic faith we would not risk the children's immortal souls for the sake of a bowl of soup buíochas le dia
the night before the emigrants left home neighbors held an american wake
for them as they would from their dead this wake was a mixture of joy and sorrow
the turf fire which is burnt in this hearth continuously
for over 100 years will burn no more we are all going away
my father got relief working on the roads breaking stones for eight hours a day
for pay of less than one penny that would not buy enough food to keep body & soul together
starving and half naked the snow and bitter winds of last winter took him away like
hundreds of our neighbors he was buried without a cross or shroud in a mass grave
our hearts are heavy as we set out to join the
ship dunbrody that would take us across the atlantic ocean
but we also go with hope of a brighter future in america for our children and their children
so once their tickets were inspected and they had said their goodbyes they climbed aboard
chuaigh siad ar board they climbed aboard or they went on board
travelers were only allowed to be on deck for an hour or so a day in order to get some fresh air
and cook some food the majority of their time was spent down here in 2nd class dara grád
that's how the vast majority of irish emigrants travelled on the famine ships
you can see it was very claustrophobic and tight cúng claustrophobic
áit nach bhfuil morán spáis ann a place where there was not much space to be had
it could be very crowded down here plódaithe and quite uncomfortable
mí-chompordach, this is where the 1st class passengers would have travelled an
chéad ghrád first class an chéad ghrád you can see this is a lot more private
príobháideach private and certainly more comfortable níos
compordaí more comfortable níos compordaí
this is where they would have eaten meals for example along with the captain as well
this area here was for quarantine the irish for quarantine is very
similar to the english word coraintín so any passengers that were sick or that maybe had
typhus or dysentery or something like that would be kept here so the infection wouldn't spread
it was also used occasionally as a prison for misbehaving passengers príosún a prison
this is where the crew slept the irish for crew is criú itself you could just say it sounds
very similar to the english word crew or also foireann which is a kind of a word like it means
team as well foireann the crew were only paid once the ship returned to ireland or britain this was
in order to prevent them from fleeing once they landed in canada or america it's certainly more
comfortable here than in steerage but it doesn't quite have the luxury and privacy of first class
it was kind of in between both if you know what i mean
this was the storage area seomra stórais
the storage area or storage room seomra stórais and this is where the supplies for the trip
were kept solaithirtí don turas supplies for the trips
they would have to have enough food and other supplies to last the journey which
would typically last between 6-8 weeks to get across the atlantic back up on deck then
this was a cooking area for first class and for the crew ag ullmhú an bia preparing the food
this is the bell of the ship now this is said to be the original bell from the original dunbrody
the irish for bell is clog, bhí an clog ag bualadh = the bell was ringing
in the second part of the tour you'll learn about gael mheiriceánach irish americanism
as i've said america did hold lots of deiseanna, as we learned earlier was opportunities
but there were also go leor dúshlán many challenges or lots of challenges
in ireland you have to be of a certain wealth & land owning class in order to vote
or in order to better yourself in general very often the constituencies were gerrymandered to
ensure a protestant majority so with that in mind by the 2nd half of the 19th century it was just
easier for irish men to vote in america now that's not to say that other minorities such
as african-americans native americans and chinese didn't suffer discrimination because
they certainly did but from an irish-american perspective democracy carried a lot more weight in
america than it did under british rule
this here is a display the irish for a display is taispeántas
this taispeántas is the irish-american hall of fame and this proudly showcases the
success stories of irish immigrants and their descendants but becoming leader of the free world
or a cultural living legend or an astronaut are not the only signs or symbols of success
for the most part just making that brave decision to leave your family friends and homeland and
then surviving the journey and building a life on the other side of the atlantic ocean
was success enough here you learn about the most famous and iconic irish american family
the kennedys john f kennedy's great-grandfather left these shores as a famine-era emigrant &
in 1963 his great-grandson came home as president of the united states of america
tháinig sé abhaile - he came home
this visit in 1963 is known locally as the homecoming because one of our own was simply
coming home it was incredibly emotional for people at the time mothúchánach emotional
it was certainly iconic aitheanta iconic because
bhí bród an domhain orainn - we were so proud, john f kennedy's great grandfather patrick
left an ireland where catholics struggled to own land and get elected to high office due to
discriminatory rules imposed by the british his great grandson would go on to become the first
catholic president of america as i watched the footage of his 1963 homecoming i could
feel the goosebumps rise all over my body and this is nearly 60 years ago so imagine
how the ordinary irish person felt in 1963 during these magical four days when he visited his home
jfk gave us something far more important than words or deeds he gave a state that was less
than half a century old something incredibly important dóchas agus muinín hope & confidence
from famine emigrant to leader of the free world in 3 generations now that's
what i call the american dream an aisling mheiriceánach
so i hope you enjoyed this video i hope it gave you a greater understanding
and insight into the
conditions that irish emigrants faced as they fleed their own country in the 19th century
if you enjoyed it don't forget to give it a thumbs up and i'll be back very soon with more regular
videos on irish verbs phrases and things like that so thanks for watching agus slán go fóill.