Jean & Dave's Website

The Jeanie Johnston (1847-58) was the most famous of the Irish 19th century emigrant ships. She was built in Quebec in 1847 and bought shortly afterwards by the Donovan family of Tralee, County Kerry in the South West of Ireland. During and immediately after the Great Famine (1845-50) she brought Irish emigrants, fleeing the famine, to various cities in the United States and Canada. Despite the somewhat crowded conditions by to-days standards, the Jeanie Johnston was a reliable and trusted vessel and never lost a passenger or crewmember to disease or the sea.

Now this remarkable tall ship has been rebuilt in Blennerville near Tralee, County Kerry as a powerful symbol of North-South and transAtlantic co-operation. The vessel is currently nearing completion at Fenit, Co. Kerry. The President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, patron of the project, officially named the reborn Jeanie Johnston in Fenit, the new port of Tralee, on Sunday May 7th, 2000. The Jeanie Johnston will begin her sea trials later this year followed by a Farewell Tour of Ireland. She will set sail on her voyage to North America in 2001 visiting over 20 US and Canadian cities. We invite you to follow the ships progress on the site and to visit the ship, at some point on her historic journey.