The Famine Ships: The Irish Exodus to America [Paperback]

Edward Laxton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 15, 1998

Between 1846 and 1851, more than one-million people--the potato famine emigrants--sailed from Ireland to America. Now, 150 years later, The Famine Ships tells of the courage and determination of those who crossed the Atlantic in leaky, overcrowded sailing ships and made new lives for themselves, among them the child Henry Ford and the twenty-six-year-old Patrick Kennedy, great-grandfather of John F. Kennedy. Edward Laxton conducted five years of research in Ireland and interviewed the emigrants' descents in the U.S. Portraits of people, ships, and towns, as well as facsimile passenger lists and tickets, are among the fascinating memorabilia in The Famine Ships.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The defining moments of Irish history are studded with arrivals (St. Patrick, Oliver Cromwell) and departures (St. Columbanus, James Joyce). In the 1840s the great arrival was the Potato Blight, and the even greater departure was the multitude of ships carrying the nearly one million emigrants escaping the Irish famine to America. In this work, Laxton, a former newspaper editor, narrates the stories of these emigrants as they sailed for the the New World. The work is a fascinating compilation derived from family histories handed down through the generations; it describes both the horrible conditions aboard the ships and the emigrants' boundless optimism concerning the freedom of America. This well-written supplement to the various works on the Irish famine exodus finally draws attention to the people and the ships that defined a moment in Irish and American history.?John J. Doherty, Montana State Univ., Bozeman
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"A splendid book, written in a fresh and accessible way, which will grip anyone with the most superficial interest in the Famine years."-Irish Times

"Fascinating . . . finally draws attention to the people and the ships that defined a moment in Irish and American history."-Library Journal

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Holt Paperbacks (March 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805058443
• ISBN-13: 978-0805058444
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #371,746 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The message is what matters, July 26, 2000

By 

taking a rest - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Famine Ships: The Irish Exodus to America (Hardcover)

I make no apologies for the structural defects of this book, nor do I mean to suggest they should be ignored. They deserve criticism. Grammatical errors and poor editing are never welcome, however with History a factual mistake or contradiction is at best never acceptable, and at its worst can cause credibility to be questioned. I still recommend this book as the errors do not negate the events that took place, and as frustrating as they may be, they do not detract from the horror that was The Famine, nor the conduct of those involved. That the book did not gain a wider audience, possibly because of these faults is sad.

Ireland has been fertile ground for reprehensible behavior by England for over 700 years. Ireland too, at times has committed acts of violence via a variety of Catholic and Protestant groups. The dead, wounded, and the mutilated are all that either side has gained. The hatred exists to this day, and while violence has been calmer of late, a great period of time must pass before memories fade and forgiveness is accepted for apologies offered.

Prior to the ships in this book becoming "Famine Ships" many plied another trade as "Slave Ships", it is true that there were structural changes made, but beyond a certain point conditions become inhuman, period. The Potato Blight is often the only, or the primary reason given for the mass immigration that devastated the island. The truth is always more complex, it is no different here.

While starvation was rampant the food that was available, food grown right there next to those that were starving was exported to England. The English Landowners often paid for the cost of passage on these ships where so many died. These ships did carry the victims of Famine like they had carried the victims of slavery before. Transportation was almost secondary, how can it be anything else when conditions are created that are deadly by definition. It was cheaper to pay for transit than keep people alive on their ancestral land. And if they left they no longer had any use for land, so it was bought and accumulated by the same individuals that often paid for its owner's permanent eviction.

Ireland today is experiencing the return of some of the descendants of those that made that terrifying crossing. As a nation it has become one of the most prosperous in Europe by many economic standards, but that is not enough. Tolerance is not good enough, nor are plans of peace that neither party believes in their heart to be fair. It would be pleasant to site examples of hatred hardened by centuries of pain that have been put aside and new beginnings made. Perhaps the newfound economic health will help the process, perhaps not.

I hope for those who live there, be they Catholic or Protestant, that a way is found in a comparatively brief span of time to pause, heal, for apologies to be made, and accepted.

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars One book badly in need of an editor, February 20, 2000

By 

Tom Bruce (East Moriches, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Famine Ships: The Irish Exodus to America (Hardcover)

This may be the most disorganized book I have ever read, and it contains numerous factual errors to boot, a kiss of death for a supposed history book. The vignettes come at you with no apparent thought about how one inter-relates with another. It is just a jumbled mess of repetitious incidents randomly presented. A simple solution would have been to build each chapter around a port of emigration. As for factual errors, how about the Titanic sailing on its maiden voyage from New York City. Or, on one page you are told a ship sank but most of its 200 passengers survived. On the next page you are told that most died. And there is no further explanation or clarification given. Dates of events are given as one year in the book, and pages later as another year. The book is published by reputable Henry Holt. Boy, they were totally asleep on this one. Even if there are some interesting facts given, how can you trust them in the face of all the errors. If you like watching movies to find the mistakes - like Plan 9 From Outer Space -- then this book is for you. All other potential readers, beware.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars If you have a drop of Irish blood in you, read this book., January 13, 1999

By 

Robert Emmet Keating ([e-mail] (Upstate New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Famine Ships: The Irish Exodus to America (Hardcover)

Anyone interested in their family history, the treatment of the Irish by the English Crown and the resultant holacaust called the Great Famine, should study this book. Well-documented and well-illustrated, it provides the history of the circumstances leading to the famine, the exodus and the horrors suffered by the emigres -- not only in their homeland, but aboard the ships. For someone researching Irish family names, this is the book to read, if for no other reason than to provide excellent background information and conditions of daily life.