Jeanie Johnston Tour and Visit the Famine Museum, Dublin

Explore a dark side of Irish history at the famine museum

The Great Famine was a terrible time for Ireland and caused mass emigration between 1845 and 1849. Back in the 19th century Irish was the spoken language within the worst affected areas of Ireland, being the west and south. During the famine around one million people starved to death, whilst another million people emigrated away from Ireland, meaning the population fell by about 25%.

The Jeanie Johnston was a tall ship that was used to transfer emigrants away from Ireland and it offers a fascinating insight into Irish emigration. The Jeanie Johnston is docked on the Dublin Quays and is a replica tall ship. On board this tall ship you will experience a 50-minute guided tour of the Jeanie Johnston led by an expert tour guide. You will also learn of the terrible conditions passengers endured whilst being transferred to Americas, there will an opportunity to go below deck, where you can envisage the conditions Irish passengers would have had to endure during their 4800 km journey. The original Jeanie Johnston tall ship took 2,500 Irish emigrants across the Atlantic Ocean to North America and despite the conditions onboard saw no loss of life.

For this Famine Museum tour and Jeanie Johnston tour, you are able to select your time of visiting upon making your booking. You will meet your professional tour guide at the Jeanie Johnston, who will take you on board the tall ship to show you around the replica of an original that made 16 trips from Ireland to the Americas.  You will start at the bottom of the ship working your way up to the top decks. Below deck you will take a look around the cabins the Irish emigrants would have occupied, you will get a sense of their lives lived during this crossing of the Atlantic Ocean, in cramped cabins, with little sanitary. You guide will explain the effect of the great famine on Ireland, and delve into stories of poverty and starvation.

Upon your tour of the Jeanie Johnston tall ship, it's then recommended that you head over to the moving Famine Memorial, situated in close proximately to the Jeanie Johnstone on Custom House Quay.

If you have an interest in Irish history, the Jeanie Johnston tall ship and Famine Museum tour will give you a detailed insight into 19th Century Ireland, the struggles with famine and the mass emigration that occurred.