Five Feet, Nine Inches Above Ground

New Ross: Dunbrody Famine ship

The time has come to catch-up on what has been happening on this great Irish adventure. One thing is for certain: access to the internet can be rather feeble in places especially when advertised as free! I’m currently in Northern Ireland in a town called Strabane situated south of Derry and west of Belfast. Tomorrow’s goal is to visit the Giant’s Causeway. How did I get here ? Well, it all started in Kilkenny where I rented a car and headed sot of south towards New Ross and Waterford. Along the way, there were stops at the remains of Inistoges Priory and Jerpoint Abbey. Of course, I wanted to stop everywhere along the way and snap a pic. The landscape was enchanting.

The village of Inistoge was a great place to wander around and there are some interesting looking hiking trails in the area. But then it was on to Jerpoint Abbey.

Rain was the name of the game that afternoon and it came down intermittently all the way from Jerpoint to New Ross. The latter is a port city, a competitor to Waterford further downstream on the opposite side of the bay. It felt like a gale force wind was blowing when I arrived. My goal was the famine ship Dunbrody permanently anchored at the water front. It’s a replica, of sorts, of the original Dunbrody that sailed from New Ross to North American ports with a cargo of port Irish farmer families that had sold everything they owned to purchase a ticket. It was their last ditch attempt to save themselves from the famine brought on by the failure of the potato crops due to blight. For the sum of three pounds and ten shillings, one individual was entitled to a berth, of sorts, with five other adults, below decks. As our tour guide explained, the poor passengers were allowed a half hour per day on deck depending on weather conditions, there was little privacy, the below decks toilet buckets were emptied each day during that half hour. Whatever cooking happened was done over a coal fired brazier on deck. There were no portholes and during stormy weather the hatches were nailed shut until the weather improved.

First class passengers had it marginally better. They had their own cabins and dining area in the prow of the ship next to the captain’s cabin and a cook was employed to provide them and the crew with food prepared in the on deck galley. The journey across the Atlantic could take as long as six weeks depending on the port of landing which could be Savannah, Georgia, Boston, or New York. Many did not survive the journey.

For the return trip to Ireland, the berths in the hold were removed so that a cargo of timber, molasses, guano or whatever needed shipping could be stored in the hold.

My final destination of that day, was a B&B in Waterford. As advertised, there was a flower garden in the back!

One last thing, for my foody friends, here’s the meal that started my road trip. I have fallen in love with Irish soda bread!