The Jeanie Johnston Tall Ship & Famine Museum

If you’re an Irish history buff with a passion for old rigs, then we invite you to visit the quays of the Liffey, where you can admire the Jeanie Johnston, a replica of a 19th-century three-master. This museum ship plunges you into the heart of local history, at the time of the Great Irish Famine… a particularly dark period, when the Irish population crammed by the thousands into boats like this one, in the hope of reaching the New World… A fascinating and poignant museum, which should teach you more about the past sufferings of the Irish people!

Visit Jeanie Johnston

The replica of a three-masted ship steeped in history

Just a stone’s throw from Dublin’s Famine Memorial is the magnificent Jeanie Johnston, a replica of a 19th-century Canadian sailing ship, floating proudly on the waters of the Liffey. Reconstructed down to the last detail, you can relive the terrible years of the Great Famine, and discover the transport conditions of the time to reach the United States of America.

So don’t hesitate to climb aboard and stroll along its wooden pontoon! Go down into the holds, visit the steerage and relax in front of the specially-designed exhibits to better understand the context of the era.

Among the many bits of information – distilled mainly in English – you’ll learn that the original Jeanie Johnston ship, built in Quebec in 1847, would have enabled many Irish immigrants to reach America, as they fled en masse from the Great Famine raging in Ireland. It is estimated that the ship made no fewer than 16 voyages between 1848 and 1853, with few passenger losses (unlike other ships, which regularly lost between 25% and 50% of their passengers to illness and storms during the crossing).

For added realism, you’ll follow the fate of real-life Irish emigrants, who fled famine aboard often unsanitary boats. At the time, there was no certainty that they would arrive safely, between the overcrowding on board, the omnipresent cold and humidity, the storms and the risk of disease… Boarding one of these “coffin ships” was like playing Russian roulette!

You will follow step by step the adventures of these Irishmen who did not hesitate to embark, some arriving safely… others dying of shipwreck, typhus or cholera…

All perfectly told and illustrated. The Jeanie Johnston features a wealth of anecdotes, engravings and photos, as well as a display of everyday objects. The charm of the boat (sometimes dark) reinforces the violence of the facts: we feel empathy for the Irish emigrants. We admire their courage. You feel almost oppressed by certain details.

It leaves you with a heavy heart, full of empathy for the Irish emigrants.

In short, an emotional visit that pays tribute to Irish history and to the courage of the Irish people, who didn’t hesitate to take risks and leave their homeland in search of a better country. A must-do!