Maritime Museum Hosts Irish Famine Display

In the mid to late 1840s, Ireland's potato famine forced thousands of lower class Irish to seek opportunities on the other side of the Atlantic.

For many emigrants, their arrival in Canada's Maritime provinces marked the start of their new lives.

Beginning Saturday, Dec. 16, the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic will host In the Wake of the Dark Passage. The display explores the impact of 30,000 people who emigrated to the Maritimes, specifically Saint John, N.B. The exhibit will run until February 2007.

On loan from the New Brunswick Archives, the display was developed in collaboration with the Irish Canadian Cultural Association of New Brunswick, and was originally created for the 150th anniversary of the Great Irish Famine.

Through stories of four famine ships, the display reveals the nature of shipping in the 19th century, the treatment of passengers aboard emigrant vessels, and how New Brunswick became one of the most important gateways for Irish immigrants during the famine.

The Maritime Museum is located at 1675 Lower Water St., Halifax.