There were no deep water ports in Ireland. So where did the Irish board the boats? Well, some sailed from Tralee, Cork City, and Cobh even before 1862. By that time a railroad had been completed from Tralee to Cobh, so few left from Tralee anymore, most went to Cobh or Cork to start their journey. Making Cork the last port of call put the ships in warmer and more gentle waters and were on the English route from Plymouth to the new world. Many of the people that "went from Cork" actually went from Cobh. Sailing out of Cobh/Cove, the Port of Cork, the large ships would anchor at sea and they would ferry the "topping off passengers" out to the ship. Ships also left from Limerick to Canada, taking people and bringing back lumber.

The only main ports of departure from Ireland were (1) going to Liverpool , mostly families from the northern counties did that (2) Cobh/Queenstown , mostly from the southern ports , and (3) some northern people also went to Glasgow. In much earlier years there were also departures from other ports such as Larne. The major ports for the years of 1846-1851 were Dublin, Newery, Galway, Cork,Limerick, Belfast, Londonderry, Waterford, Liverpool and Silgo.

According to the book "The Irish in New Orleans 1800-1860" by Earl F. Niehaus, New Orleans was a major port of entry for Irish emigrants. Cotton was King and New Orleans was the leading port to export it. The ships that took cotton to Liverpool, brough passengers back to New Orleans as ballast. Thus the rates were cheaper. After 1834, these cotton ships were responsible for over 80% of the Irish emigrants. Manifests will tell you where the ship was from.

Limerick City was a big centre for emmigration into Canada due to the Timber Trade from Canada to Limerick. So outward journeys were advertised by the local timber merchant Francis Spaight & Sons - the the cost of passage was about 3 pounds. Many went that route and stayed in Canada; others made their way to the US having arrived at Canadian ports.

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And, from LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND: The larger (and safer and cheaper) ships left from Liverpool. Scotland Road and area is quite near Liverpool docks, where so many people including our Irish had found casual work. Much the same as they did in New York City. This was per half day and the labourers had to queque in the hope of getting work, but it was not guaranteed. Hence lots of poverty if there were no ships to work.

The closest cemetery to this area may be the Kirkdale Cemetery or the Roman Catholic cemetery at nearby Ford in the Borough of Bootie. It has been indexed by the very active Anglo-Catholic group in Liverpool Family History Society.

Liverpool
Another Liverpool site
Liverpool Echo newspaper which includes old photos of Liverpool
You may also write to the Liverpool Echo's Old Pals section to give them your family names in hopes that there's someone still living who recognizes them.

Emigration Schemes/Port of Departure/Cost

From Ballykilcline,Co. Roscommon to Dublin to Liverpool to N.Y. in 1847 - 4 pounds adult/2 pounds 15 shilling child under 14 yrs

From Irvilloughter & Boughill, Co. Galway to Galway to Quebec in 1848 - 5 pounds adult/2 pounds 15 shillings 6d child Again in 1849 Galway to Quebec - 5 pounds 7 shillings 6d adult/2 pound 17 shillings 6d child

From Kingswilliamstown, Co. Cork to Liverpool to N.Y. 1849 - 3 pounds adult/2 pound 5 shilling child

From Castlemaine, Co. Kerry to Liverpool to N.Y. 1848/1849 same rate as above

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And, coming at it from the other direction, on reaching the destinations, many ships stopped at more than one port. For example: First stop NYC then on to Phila to disembark more passengers etc. Or they could have taken a train from NYC to Phila., etc. Lots of folks went to Canada because it was cheaper. They then walked down into their chosen area of the USA. Canada and Nantucket, Boston, New Orleans were the most common ports during 1849-1853. There are lists available for these major ports:

Baltimore: 1820-1957
Boston: 1820-1943
New York: 1820-1957
New Orleans: 1820-1952
Philadelphia: 1800-1948
San Francisco: 1893-1957

And many other places. One list of customs and immigration and a list of ports and years may help. You will find microfilmed copies of passenger lists at the National Archives and its regional centers, public and private libraries, and at the LDS Family History Library and its thousands of local Family History Centers.

Don't overlook lists of people who entered the country via land rather than sea. A helpful tool here is the collection of arrival indexes and manifests for persons crossing the border between the United States and Canada. These records, which begin in 1895 and end in 1954, are often listed as records of the St. Albans District but the collection is not limited to just St. Albans, Vermont. The St. Albans district encompassed most of the U.S.- Canadian border. Look for "St. Albans District Manifest Records of Aliens Arriving from Foreign Contiguous Territory" in your branch of the National Archives. At the LDS Family History Center look for SOUNDEX INDEX TO CANADIAN BORDER ENTRIES THROUGH THE ST. ALBANS, VT. DISTRICT, 1895-1924 (M1461). These microfilms are wonderful sources of information as they include personal data found on U.S. Immigration forms as well as that of aliens crossing the border on trains. If you have problems locating this group of microfilms on the Family History Center Catalogue diskette, you can just enter this number - 1472801, and it will bring information up on the screen regarding availability of these and related border-crossing microfilms for other time periods. By first obtaining information on the soundex films you can then readily find a microfilmed copy of the original ship manifest showing all passengers on that particular voyage including the signature of the captain! Soundex microfilms are arranged so that all the travelers with the same surname (or similar) are included on one or two films.

Typically, the soundex films give month, year, port of arrival, names of other family members, country of origin and the name of the ship! They often include individual's last address before immigrating and names and addresses of other relatives in that country, as well as the names and addresses of family or friends at his or her's intended destination! Included is personal data such as height, weight, color of hair and eyes, health status and any scars.

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The voyage itself?
Try An eight week voyage from Dublin to Montreal in 1817 or Some other accounts. Another source of general information is Emigration to the U. S. & British Colonies Article from "Illustrated London News" July 6, 1850

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• Immigrant and Passenger Arrivals--Customs
• National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, UK
• Researching Ships, Passenger Lists
• PASSENGER LISTS ON THE INTERNET
• THE OLIVE TREE GENEALOGY:Immigration and Passenger Lists
• Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild
• Irish Passenger Lists
• Ships, Emigration, Passenger lists
• TheShipsList Home Page
• Immigrant Ship Information
• RuthAnn's Ships Lists Page

The Information Centre
Lloyd's Register of Shipping
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London, England EC3M 4BS

Independence Seaport Museum
Penn's Landing
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New Bedford Whaling Museum
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Inland Seas Maritime Museum
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Vermillion, OH 44089
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216-967-1519

Marine Museum of the Great Lakes at Kinston
55 Ontario Street
Kingston Ontario
Canada K7L 2Y2
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613-542-0043

Mystic Seaport Museum
G.W. Blunt White Library
P O Box 6000
Mystic, CT 06355
860-572-0711

John D. Rockerfeller, Jr. Library
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
313 First Street
Williamsburg, VA 23185
757-220-7410
757-220-7711 fax

Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum
P O Box 636
St. Michaels, MD 21663
410-745-2916
410-745-6088