The National Famine Memorial
Located at the foot of Croagh Patrick, Murrisk, Co. Mayo, Ireland, the statue commemorates the great famine between 1845 and 1849. The monument was designed by Dublin artist John Behan and shows a “Coffin ship”. (From Wikipedia) Ships carrying people fleeing the famine were overcrowded and disease-ridden, with poor access to food and water, resulting in the deaths of many people as they crossed the Atlantic, and led to the 1847 North American typhus epidemic at quarantine stations in Canada. Owners of coffin ships provided as little food, water and living space as was legally possible, if they obeyed the law at all. While coffin ships were the cheapest way to cross the Atlantic, mortality rates of 30% aboard the coffin ships were common. It was said that sharks could be seen following the ships, because so many bodies were thrown overboard.
The National Famine Memorial
Located at the foot of Croagh Patrick, Murrisk, Co. Mayo, Ireland, the statue commemorates the great famine between 1845 and 1849. The monument was designed by Dublin artist John Behan and shows a “Coffin ship”. (From Wikipedia) Ships carrying people fleeing the famine were overcrowded and disease-ridden, with poor access to food and water, resulting in the deaths of many people as they crossed the Atlantic, and led to the 1847 North American typhus epidemic at quarantine stations in Canada. Owners of coffin ships provided as little food, water and living space as was legally possible, if they obeyed the law at all. While coffin ships were the cheapest way to cross the Atlantic, mortality rates of 30% aboard the coffin ships were common. It was said that sharks could be seen following the ships, because so many bodies were thrown overboard.