The Famine Ships

A "fascinating" account of the experiences of the Irish emigrants who fled a catastrophic crop failure and built new lives across the Atlantic (Library Journal).

Between 1846 and 1851, more than one million people—the potato famine emigrants—sailed from Ireland to America. 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' descendants in the United States. Portraits of people, ships, and towns, as well as facsimile passenger lists and tickets, are among the compelling memorabilia in The Famine Ships.


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

"A splendid book, written in a fresh and accessible way." —Irish Times
Includes photos and illustrations