The ''Dunbrody'' was a three-masted
barque
A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel with three or more mast (sailing), masts having the fore- and mainmasts Square rig, rigged square and only the mizzen (the aftmost mast) Fore-and-aft rig, rigged fore and aft. Som ...
built in
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
in 1845 by Thomas Hamilton Oliver for the Graves family, merchants from
New Ross
New Ross (, formerly ) is a town in southwest County Wexford, Ireland. It is located on the River Barrow, near the border with County Kilkenny, and is around northeast of Waterford. In 2016 it had a population of 8,040 people, making it the ...
in
Wexford
Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 N ...
.
She operated primarily as a cargo vessel, carrying
timber
Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...
and
guano
Guano (Spanish from qu, wanu) is the accumulated excrement of seabirds or bats. As a manure, guano is a highly effective fertilizer due to the high content of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium, all key nutrients essential for plant growth. G ...
to
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
.
Passenger service
She was fitted with bunks and between April to September from 1845 to 1851, she carried passengers on the outward leg to
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
. These passengers were people desperate to escape the
Great Famine of Ireland at the time, and conditions for steerage passengers were tough.
An area of 6 foot square was allocated to up to 4 passengers (who might not be related) and their children. Often 50% died on passage (they were known as "coffin ships"). However, the mortality rate on the ''Dunbrody'' was exceptionally low, no doubt due to her captains, John Baldwin and his successor John W. Williams, with passengers writing home often praising their dedication. On one passage with 313 passengers, almost twice her normal complement, only 6 died.
Disposition
In 1869, after 24 years of service with the Graves family, she was sold. In 1874, while travelling from
Cardiff
Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
to Quebec, she ran aground in the
Saint Lawrence River
The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connectin ...
. She was bought by a salvage company, repaired and sold again but in 1875 she foundered on the
Labrador
, nickname = "The Big Land"
, etymology =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Canada
, subdivision_type1 = Province
, subdivision_name1 ...
coast and was lost.
See also
*''
Jeanie Johnston
''Jeanie Johnston'' is a replica of a three masted barque that was originally built in Quebec, Canada, in 1847 by the Scottish-born shipbuilder John Munn. The replica ''Jeanie Johnston'' performs a number of functions: an ocean-going sail train ...
''
*
''Dunbrody'' (2001), a replica ship constructed.
Cian T. McMahon, ''The Coffin Ship: Life and Death at Sea during the Great Irish Famine'' (NYU Press, 2021)
External links
web site of the Dunbrody replica project
Barques
Sailing ships of Ireland
Maritime history of Ireland
Maritime incidents in 1875
Shipwrecks of the Newfoundland and Labrador coast
New Ross
1845 ships
Ships built in Quebec
Great Famine (Ireland)
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