The original Dunbrody carried Irish emigrants to
the New World (US & Canada) between 1845-1870.
This three-masted barque was built in Quebec,
Canada, in 1845. She was used primarily as a cargo vessel for carrying timber from Canada,
cotton from the USA and guano from Peru. Later, she was fitted out with bunks and
facilities for passengers desperate to escape the harrowing conditions during the potato famine in Ireland.
She carried her passengers from New Ross, Co.
Wexford, (the ancestral home of the family of President John F Kennedy). The ship
was lost at sea in 1875 with a full cargo of timber while bound for Liverpool.
The Dunbrody Project involved the construction
in 2001 of a full scale sea-going replica which offers visitors the chance to experience
life on board an emigrant ship. Glasgow Steel
Nail Co supplied traditional cut boat nails for the project.
Pictures by kind
permission of The Kennedy Trust
Copyright © Glasgow Steel Nail
Co 1997- All rights reserved
