All Standing; The Remarkable Story of the Jeanie Johnston, the Legendary Irish Famine Ship

My sister-in-law is the one who told me that I must read All Standing; The Remarkable Story of the Jeanie Johnston, the Legendary Irish Famine Ship (#382).  Written by Kathryn Miles, it's a riveting capsule history of the events and politics which shaped the catastrophic Great Hunger in Ireland during the 1840s and early 1850s.  Frankly, I think this book should be required reading for all Irish-Americans.

My sister-in-law and I are both of Irish Catholic descent, and of course I knew vaguely that the Irish potato crop failed for several years running, forcing thousands of Irish who depended on the potato as their principal food source to either emigrate or starve.  I'm ashamed to admit that until now, I've never realized the role that British politicians and Anglo-Irish landlords and merchants played in exacerbating this crisis and using it for their own profit.  Ms. Miles calls it genocide.  After reading this book, I have no doubt that she is correct.

Ms. Miles has chosen to put a human face on this tragedy by concentrating on the story of the Jeanie Johnston, a Canadian-built barque built for hauling cargo, bought by a merchant in Tralee, Ireland.  How the ship was constructed, manned, and the cargoes (including the Irish emigrants) she hauled make the story come to life.  The builder, the owner, the captain and especially the ship's physician were all instrumental in the Jeanie Johnston's remarkable safety record.  Although other ships plying the same routes were labeled as the infamous "coffin ships" because of the massive passenger deaths aboard due to starvation and disease, in all of her twelve voyages the Jeanie Johnston, against all odds, lost only one.  Ms. Miles brackets the main narrative with the fortunes of the Reilly family who sailed aboard her, and whose second son was born on the Jeanie Johnston. 

A reconstruction of the Jeanie Johnston was built and visited American in 2002, when it put in here in Palm Beach, Florida.  To see pictures of the museum where it is permanently berthed in Dublin, click on this link: The Jeanie Johnston

As for me, I'm not sure I'll ever be able to stomach a cup of Earl Grey tea again.