All Standing: The Remarkable Story of the Jeanie Johnston, The Legendary Irish Famine Ship

Today a replica of the Jeanie Johnston emigration ship has been reconstructed in Ireland, perhaps mostly for the tourist trade but of interest to historians as well. Author Kathryn Miles sailed on the reconstructed ship; she named her book “All Standing,” a nautical term which means “to be equipped or rigged…at the ready.” And she was: a purchase made by an enterprising Catholic merchant, Nicholas Donovan (one of the sons of John Donovan and Sons) in Tralee. Amidst rumors of the possible closing of Irish ports during the Great Hunger, the fact was the British wanted more grain. Donovan, as a member of the newly freed and emerging middle class (acknowledging the reform bills in the 1830’s and the work of Daniel O’Connell for the emancipation of Catholics) was determined to somehow make his mark as an important citizen. Married to a Murphy of the brewing family, Donovan sought ways to profit even during Famine times. Earl Henry Grey, colonial secretary for Britain, saw in the famine opportunity as well: there was a terrible shortage of labor in British North America’s timber region (once New France, now Canada), what he saw as overpopulation in Ireland, and an open border into the United States. Hundreds of Irish peasants sought relief via emigration. Ships laden with timber for building projects were headed for Britain, but little if anything was shipped back across the Atlantic. Empty ships had to use sand and stone as ballast: what if the ballast could be people and even people willing to pay? Some landlords were funding the journey to rid their properties of the cottiers and the hunger dilemma of the failed potato crop which had sustained them.Ship builder John Munn hired Irish refugees in Quebec, and he appeared to be as dedicated to his community and its people as anyone. He employed sailmakers and hull caulkers, but the ship business was seasonal and the winters harsh. He had contracts to build 3 ships, but that left about 40 of his 200 workers without work, so he decided to build a 4th ship on his own speculation. With his own funds, the ship would have to be smaller and less complicated that some of his contractural ships. He designed a ship with a generous square hold which would carry tons of Canadian timber to British ports, but curiously (and we don’t know why), he created spacious clearance between decks in which an adult could stand. He designed a grid on the floor of his workspace and he fashioned a barque which would become legend in Emigration history.Even her presentation was more somber and restrained than most—-the Jeanie Johnston did not have a female figurehead and she was painted a simple black. Munn hired Matthew Armstrong, a veteran of the Patriot’s War, to captain the Jeanie to Liverpool to find a buyer.Meanwhile, back in Tralee, Donovan was bringing corn into Tralee and exporting wheat and oats to the Liverpool market. And then, he reckoned, why not send his import corn ships back to America filled with immigrants. He rightly reckoned that the immigration travel trade would increase (perhaps based on the numbers he saw at the local bank with checks from relatives drawn on American banks). The Elgin-Grey paper had been published and they described conditions on what had come to be known as “coffin” ships.Donovan decided he would purchase a ship which would bring grain or timber to Ireland, the only products bringing neat profits in ireland at the time, and, for the reverse voyage, could transport at least a hundred immigrants. They would need sufficient water, food, and space to move around. He would need a captain for such a project: he hired Captain James Attridge, one of Ireland’s finest sea captains. It was Attridge who found Munn’s Jeanie Johnston for Donovan, and Donovan bought her in 1848; Attridge chose Thomas Campion for his First Mate, seaman Cornelius Crowley, and 16 others. And, Attridge and Donovan also had agreed on another critical hire: that of the ship’s doctor. Local press had advocated for a physician on such voyages, and even though Parliament had not mandated same, a doctor for the Jeanie Johnston would be found in Richard Blennerhasset.The personal attributes and histories of this triumvirate is as much a part of this story as is the hundreds of emigrants the Jeanie Johnston brought to new lives. In the midst of the horror that is the Great Hunger, Kathryn Miles has documented one of the greatest triumphs of the time. This is a truly splendid book which acknowledges honor and humanitarianism at a bleak time in human history.

Kathryn Miles' All Standing takes us along on the perilous Atlantic journey undertaken by 1 million desperate Irish emigrants in the midst of what has become known simply as "the Famine", (as if there had been only one). Although the story of the famine is one most Americans are familiar with, since it was the impetus of so many of our ancestors, All Standing: The True Story of Hunger, Rebellion, and Survival brought to life parts of the story I'd never heard before. The Jeannie Johnston was one of the many famine ships that came to be known as coffin ships, due to the high incidence of deaths that occurred among the "huddled masses" in steerage. However, passengers aboard the Jeannie Johnston had the miraculous good fortune of voyaging on the one ship that could boast no moralities on board, in all of her many journeys to ports in Canada. The "miracle" was not the result of dumb luck or divine intervention, but of a combination of a well-planned design by a master shipbuilder in Quebec, the rigid habits of a meticulous captain, and the exceptional medical care of a doctor who somehow kept cholera at bay in horrible conditions at sea. Miles' breathes life into this often told story by taking the reader from the to the shipyards of Quebec and the quarantine hospital on Grosse Isle to the halls of Parliament in England, where English nobility decided the fate of millions of Irish sufferers through their control of the economy. At times the narrative read like a novel. The stories of the passengers didn't end when they reached North America. We learn of their fates as they struggle in logging camps in Canada, or migrate to the United States to be met with signs warning them "Irish need not apply". This story of the unlikely resilience of an entire people against nature, centuries of tyranny, and genocide is one that should be told again and again, and Kathryn Miles does it very well.

Interesting book that I have shared

The term "Irish Potato Famine" is often tossed around as if it were a simple issue of one or two failed potato crops that simply caused people to emigrate, primarily to North America. However, the author does an amazing job of setting scenes and giving real historical context to this disaster. It is also the first time I remember hearing the term "genocide" applied to the Irish Potato Famine, and upon reading this book I can see that it is apt. The story is told from many different perspectives - everyone from English officials who treated the famine situation with criminal manipulation and neglect, to Irish profiteers, ship builders and captains, health professionals, customs officers and the immigrants themselves. In spite of this being another sad tale of man's inhumanity to man, it is also a story of great resilience and determination against all odds. And the other hopeful note is that the extreme prejudice and bigotry experienced by any ethnic group (such as the Irish) is eventually replaced by assimilation over time - often a great deal of time. The ship Jeanie Johnston was itself a remarkable testament to the few who tried to do things the right way during the famine years versus doing them the most profitable way. And the central Irish immigrant character, who was actually born on the Jeanie, shines a light on what it was like to begin that process of assimilation into his new North American homeland. It was a fascinating read, sometimes difficult due to the descriptions of extreme suffering, but worth it to obtain a better understanding of the period and the impact of this disaster across multiple continents.

apologies for delay in giving feedback, this book is a great read, or so im told as i bought it for my husband, many thanks

Very historical I learned about the famine at school but I think this is a good story.

Die großartige Geschichte eines Schiffes, seiner Besatzung und wie einzelne Menschen etwas Gutes bewirken können. Sehr empfehlenswert. Schade, dass es dieses Buch nicht auf Deutsch gibt. Es macht Mut!