View source for Coffin ship

{{Short description|Ships that carried Irish and Scottish migrants during the 19th century}}
{{other uses|Coffin ship (disambiguation)}}
{{EngvarB|date=October 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}}
[[Image:Jeanie Johnston.jpg|thumb|300px|Replica of the "good ship" ''[[Jeanie Johnston]]'', which sailed during the [[Great Famine (Ireland)|Great Hunger]] when coffin ships were common. No one ever died on the ''Jeanie Johnston'' due to good practices by the captain and ship's doctor compared to the norms of the period.<ref>{{cite news |last=Timmins |first=Orla |date=2013-03-09 |title=Sail of the century |url=https://www.independent.ie/regionals/herald/sail-of-the-century/29119909.html |work= |location= |publisher=Irish Independent |access-date=22 February 2025}}</ref>]]

A '''coffin ship''' ({{Langx|ga|long cónra}}) is a popular idiom used to describe the ships that carried Irish migrants escaping the [[Great Irish Famine]] and [[Scottish Highlands|Highlander]]s displaced by the [[Highland Clearances]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thesonsofscotland.co.uk/thehighlandclearances.htm |work=thesonsofscotland.co.uk |title=The Highland Clearances}}</ref>

Coffin ships carrying emigrants, crowded and disease-ridden, with poor access to food and water, resulted in the deaths of many people as they crossed the [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]], and led to the [[1847 North American typhus epidemic]] at quarantine stations in [[Canada]].<ref name = CCHA>{{cite journal |last=Gallagher |first=The Reverend John A. |year=1936 |title=The Fever Fleet – The Irish Emigration of 1847 and Its Canadian Consequences |journal=CCHA Report|url=http://journal.cchahistory.ca/journal/CCHA1935-36/Gallagher.html|access-date=2023-06-20}}</ref> Owners of coffin ships provided as little food, water, and living space as was legally possible, if they obeyed the law at all.<ref>[https://www.allatsea.net/plimsoll-line-and-coffin-ships/ Plimsoll Line and coffin Ships]</ref> With death rates commonly reaching 20 percent and horror stories of 50 percent dying, these vessels soon became known as ''coffin ships''. Those who died were buried at sea.

While coffin ships were the cheapest way to cross the Atlantic, mortality rates of 30 percent aboard the coffin ships were common.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.emigrantletters.com/IE/output.asp?ArticleID=211374&CategoryID=6574&ArticleOutputTemplateID=452&ArticleStateID=2 |title=Early Emigrant Letter Stories |work=emigrantletters.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100412052102/http://www.emigrantletters.com/IE/output.asp?ArticleID=211374&CategoryID=6574&ArticleOutputTemplateID=452&ArticleStateID=2 |archive-date=12 April 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref> It was said that sharks could be seen following the ships, because so many bodies were thrown overboard.<ref>{{cite book |title=A dictionary of Irish history since 1800 |last=Hickey |first= D.J.|author2=J. E. Doherty |year=1980 |publisher=Barnes & Noble |isbn=978-0-389-20160-1 |page=[https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofiris00djhi/page/80 80] |url= https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofiris00djhi|url-access=registration |quote=sharks. }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title= Enter the Irish-American |last= Wakin|first= Edward|year=2001 |publisher=[[iUniverse]] |isbn=978-0-595-22730-3 |page=29 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E9O6AuNcwekC&pg=PA29 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Kennedys: dynasty and disaster |last=Davis |first=John H |year=1992 |publisher= S.P.I. Books|isbn=978-1-56171-060-7 |page=[https://archive.org/details/kennedysdynastyd0000davi/page/11 11] |url=https://archive.org/details/kennedysdynastyd0000davi |url-access=registration }}</ref>

== Legislation ==
Legislation to protect emigrant passengers, the [[Passenger Vessels Act 1803]] ([[43 Geo. 3]]. c. 56), was enacted in Britain and continued to evolve in the following decades. A revised act, the [[Passengers in Merchant Vessels Act 1828]] ([[9 Geo. 4]]. c. 21), for example, marked the first time that the British government took an active interest in emigration matters. Within a few years, regulations were in force to determine the maximum number of passengers that a ship could carry, and to ensure that sufficient food and water be provided for the voyage.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}

But, the legislation was not always enforced, so unscrupulous shipowners and shipmasters found ways to circumvent the law. In addition, ships sailing from non-British ports were not subject to the legislation. As a consequence, thousands of emigrants experienced a miserable and often dangerous journey. By 1867, regulations were more effective, thus providing people with the promise of a safe, if not comfortable, voyage.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.collectionscanada.ca/immigrants/021017-2111-e.html |title=Moving Here, Staying Here: The Canadian Immigrant Experience – "Right of Passage" |publisher=[[Library and Archives Canada]] |work=collectionscanada.ca |access-date=18 April 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930181333/http://www.collectionscanada.ca/immigrants/021017-2111-e.html |archive-date=30 September 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== Memorials ==
[[File:Famine national monument at Murrisk - geograph.org.uk - 965072.jpg|thumb|Famine national monument at Murrisk]]
[[File:Samuel plimsoll medal b.jpg|thumb|The [[Obverse and reverse|obverse side]] of a medal given to [[Samuel Plimsoll]] showing a coffin ship]]
The National Famine Monument at the base of [[Croagh Patrick]] in [[Murrisk]], [[County Mayo]], Ireland depicts a coffin ship with skeletons and bones as rigging. Sculpted by [[John Behan (sculptor)|John Behan]], it is Ireland's largest bronze sculpture. The "Coffin Ship" was unveiled by then [[President of Ireland]] [[Mary Robinson]] in 1997 to mark the 150th anniversary of the Irish Famine.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.croagh-patrick.com/natfamine.html |title=The National Famine Monument |work=croagh-patrick.com}}</ref>

== In popular culture ==
Contrary to popular understanding, the term "coffin ships" was practically never used during the Great Famine itself (1845–1852). It appeared in Irish newspapers only once in a while in the years before and during the catastrophe, but it was not popularized during that period nor did its use having anything to do with Irish nationalist politician Thomas D'Arcy McGee's famous "sailing coffins" speech in March 1848.

In fact, the term "coffin ship" was popularized in the early 1870s by English Member of Parliament Samuel Plimsoll as part of his campaign for sailors' rights. It was later adopted by Irish nationalists during the Land War of the late 1870s and early 1880s as part of their twin campaign for land reform and political independence.<ref>Cian T. McMahon, "Tracking the Great Famine's 'Coffin Ships' Across the Digital Deep" ''Eire-Ireland'' 56, nos. 1–2 (Spring/Summer 2021): 85–113</ref>

In [[The Pogues]] song "[[Thousands Are Sailing]]", the ghost of an Irish immigrant laments, "...on a coffin ship I came here/And I never even got so far that they could change my name."<ref>{{cite book |last1=McMahon |first1=Cian T. |title=The Coffin Ship: Life and Death at Sea During the Great Irish Famine |date=2022 |publisher=NYU Press |page=237}}</ref>

The Dutton family of the ''[[Yellowstone (American TV series)|Yellowstone]]'' universe is said in the prequel show ''[[1923 (TV series)|1923]]'' to have been "ravaged" "upon the coffin ships of Ireland".<ref>{{cite news |title=Paramount+1923 season 1 episode 1 recap: 1923 |url=https://showsnob.com/2022/12/20/1923-season-1-episode-1-recap/ |agency=[[FanSided]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=1923: Harrison Ford, Helen Mirren key to another compelling Yellowstone drama |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/stuff-to-watch/300768810/1923-harrison-ford-helen-mirren-key-to-another-compelling-yellowstone-drama |publisher=Stuff|location=New Zealand}}</ref>

The [[Kenn Gordon & 1916]] song "[[The Ships]]" describes how they were crammed in and not really expected to actually survive the journey that they had paid for. This included those from the Highland clearances of Sutherland and Caithness and poor Irish farmers.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}

Irish metal bands [[Cruachan (band)|Cruachan]] and [[Primordial (band)|Primordial]] both have songs entitled "The Coffin Ships".  Primordial's version was released on their 2005 album ''[[The Gathering Wilderness]]'', whilst Cruachan's (unrelated) song was written for their 2007 album ''[[The Morrigan's Call]]''.  The Australian/Irish band [[Clann Zú]] also makes mention of coffin ships in the song "Black Coats and Bandages".{{Citation needed|date=March 2023}}

Irish poet [[Eavan Boland]] mentions the coffin ships in her poem "In a Bad Light" from the collection ''In a Time of Violence'', and in her memoir ''Object Lessons: The Life of the Woman and the Poet in Our Time''.{{Citation needed|date=March 2023}}

[[Flogging Molly]], an Irish-American [[celtic punk]] band, uses the term "coffin ship" in their song "You Won't Make a Fool Out of Me" from their album ''[[Float (Flogging Molly album)|Float]]''. The quote is as follows:

{{Poem quote|But green is the heart of your greed
That much I can tell
you may think you're the captain of me
But I'm your coffin ship from hell}}

[[Frank Herbert]]'s novel ''[[The White Plague]]'', about a worldwide plague-like virus that only killed women, featured modern coffin ships which carried Irish people back home to their deaths, as demanded by the novel's antagonist who had released the virus.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=6dgtUfHS2r8C&dq=frank+herbert+the+white+plague+coffin+ship&pg=PA142 ''The White Plague''] by Frank Herbert, p. 142.</ref>

Irish writer [[Joseph O'Connor]]'s 2004 novel ''[[Star of the Sea (novel)|Star of the Sea]]'' is set aboard a coffin ship and against the backdrop of the Irish famine. The book became an international bestseller.

[[The BibleCode Sundays]] song "Mayo Moon"<ref>[https://www.shazam.com/song/978792969/mayo-moon?tab=lyrics ''Mayo Moon Song Lyrics from Shazam'']</ref> describes a man preparing to leave for New York during the [[Great Famine (Ireland)|Great Famine of Ireland]]. It mentions the term "Coffin Ship" as it is waiting by the quay to take him away from here. The song continues the journey across the ocean as a storm rips the sails off and leaving the ship lost on the ocean. It finishes by describing all the passengers that had died on the crossing and the final sinking of the ship.

== See also ==
* [[Hannah (1849 shipwreck)|''Hannah'']], a brig that struck an [[iceberg]] and sank in 1849 while carrying Irish emigrants to Canada
* [[Denis Mahon (British Army officer)|Major Denis Mahon]], an Irish landlord who sent thousands of tenants in coffin ships to Canada and was murdered in 1847

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://nyupress.org/9781479808793/the-coffin-ship/ Cian T. McMahon, ''The Coffin Ship: Life and Death at Sea during the Great Irish Famine'' (NYU Press, 2021)]
* {{cite book |url=http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/SADLIER/IRISH/RWhyte.htm |author=Robert Whyte |title=The Journey of an Irish Coffin Ship |year=1847 |access-date=27 June 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100411075616/http://xroads.virginia.edu/%7Ehyper/sadlier/irish/rwhyte.htm |archive-date=11 April 2010 |url-status=dead }}
* [http://www.famineships.info famineships.info immigration records 1846 through 1851] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130903075825/http://www.famineships.info/ |date=3 September 2013 }}

{{Great Hunger}}

[[Category:Great Famine (Ireland)]]
[[Category:Maritime history of Ireland]]
[[Category:Ships of Ireland]]
[[Category:Passenger ships of Ireland]]
[[Category:Health in Ireland]]
[[Category:Epidemic typhus]]
[[Category:History of immigration to Canada]]
[[Category:History of immigration to the United States]]