When I was visiting Ireland, I visited several museums and read about the famine and mass emigration that happened due to a variety of reasons. This slide below is pretty unfocused but the next slide explains in sad detail some of the ugly truth…
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And one more, a tad unfocused item found in another Irish museum.
Coffin ships: Setting sail in 1846/7
Up to the middle 1840s, ships from Northern Europe sailed only in spring and summer to ensure they avoided ice and bad weather on their transatlantic voyage.
But in 1846, the most severe winter in living memory, immigration ships continued to sail from Ireland. Most headed southwest, to US ports. Alarmed at the level of destitution and illness arriving with these vessels, the US Congress quickly passed two new Passenger Acts in order to make the voyage even more expensive. That following March, the minimum fare to New York rose to £7, an amount way beyond the majority of families facing starvation in Ireland. Even so, all tickets had been sold by the middle of April.
Found on Irish Geology
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Created for: dailypost.wordpress.com/2012/05/04/weekly-photo-challenge-unfocused/
Happily ... after retirement 
Oh what painful history – so sad 😦
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Terribly sad era…
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and still today, while millions are starving or without the basic necessities, others are making obscene profits. sigh.
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Love your entry and thank you for the mention. 😉
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My great great grandfather left the worse hit part of Ireland in 1851 and sailed to America where he made his fortune driving cattle across the country. They called him Martin Salmon but although we know the money came back we don’t know where he died, here or there?
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Thanks for this lovely, poignant and informative post.
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Hi,
An amazing bit of history. It was certainly not a time I would of liked to live in.
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Thank you for sharing that bit of history, even though a sad bit. Here is my take on “unfocused”: http://wp.me/p1TywS-rc
~Anne
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Really great post. I grew up in Ireland and it always surprises me that so few people outside of Ireland are aware of the fact that there was plenty of food during the famine, but the powers that be kept on shipping it overseas for profit. Thanks for stopping by my site and liking my post so I could discover yours. x
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Hya MargeKatherine – seeing as there hasn’t been an official weekly photo challenge this week, I’m stepping up and throwing down a challenge for anyone who’s interested. http://wheresmybackpack.wordpress.com/2012/05/12/reflections/
I’d love you to join in – the more the merrier. Pass it on. xxx Ailsa
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