• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Irish America

Irish America

Irish America

  • HOME
  • WHO WE ARE
    • ABOUT US
    • OUR CONTRIBUTORS
  • IN THIS ISSUE
  • HALL OF FAME
  • THE LISTS
    • BUSINESS 100
    • HALL OF FAME
    • HEALTH AND LIFE SCIENCES 50
    • WALL STREET 50
  • LIBRARY
  • TRAVEL
  • EVENTS

Tracing Strokestown Famine Emigrants on the Welland Canal

April 27, 2022 by 1 Comment

From left: Declan O’Rourke, Professor Mark McGowan, Taoiseach Micheál Martin, and Dr Jason King at the National Famine Commemoration, National Famine Museum, Strokestown Park, 15 May 2022.

In Tracing Strokestown Famine Emigrants on the Welland Canal (33:58), Professor Mark McGowan from the University of Toronto follows in the footsteps of some of the 1,490 assisted migrants from the Strokestown Park estate (now home of the National Famine Museum) in 1847 who resettled in Canada’s Niagara region to find work on the Welland Canal. He uses newly discovered correspondence from the Strokestown Park Famine Archive between the landlord Major Denis Mahon and his agent John Ross Mahon to explain how the emigration scheme was planned. He also suggests that the horrific fate of former tenants who crossed the Atlantic on-board coffin ships such as the Virginius and Naomi — where almost half of them perished — was less attributable to the landlord than previously thought, though he was assassinated shortly thereafter in retribution. In tracing their fate, the film brings to life the tragic and uplifting stories of Strokestown’s Famine emigrants who fled Ireland in 1847 to resettle on the Welland Canal. 

Professor Mark McGowan (University of Toronto) is a leading expert on the Famine Irish in Canada. He is a partner with the National Famine Museum, Strokestown Park, and the Irish Heritage Trust on the Great Famine Voices project. 

 

Tracing Strokestown Famine Emigrants on the Welland Canal is part of the Great Famine Voices 2022 season hosted by the National Famine Museum, Strokestown Park, and Irish Heritage Trust with funding from the Government of Ireland Emigrant Support Programme. 

Great Famine Voices 2022 Schedule

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. joe Foley says

    September 29, 2024 at 2:27 pm

    My ancestors the Foley’s came to Canada and settled in Thorold Ontario (Welland and Lincoln counties) in the 1840, but we can’t trace their roots to pin point exactly where they came from. We assume they came from county Cork or Tipperary ? My great grandfather worked on the St. Lawerence Seaway Authorities in the early 1900’s as part of the Welland Canal.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Highlights

News
Articles and stories from Irish America.....
MORE

Hibernia
News from Ireland and happenings in Irish America.....
MORE

Those We Lost
Remembering some of the great Irish Americans who have passed.....
MORE

Slainte!
Discover Irish ancestry, predilections, and recipes.....
MORE

Photo Album
Irish America readers share the stories of their ancestors....
MORE

More Articles

  • A Pilgrimage of Repair

    A Pilgrimage of Repair

    In January 2025, to open the Jubilee of the World of Communication in Rome, the Dicastery for Commun...
  • Nellie Bly: The Best Reporter in America

    Nellie Bly: "The Best Reporter in America"

    Nellie Bly’s biographer, Brooke Kroeger, captured the essence of his admirable subject when he wrote...
  • British Government Faced With Legal Dilemma Over 1997 Murder of Sean Brown

    British Government Faced With Legal Dilemma Over 1997 Murder of Sean Brown

    This month is crunch time for the British government on one of the most prominent legal cases from t...
  • The Master of Suspense Had Irish Roots!

    The Master of Suspense Had Irish Roots!

    His mother was Irish born Emma Jane Whelan. His father’s mother was also Irish. Hitchcock was educat...

Footer

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Subscribe

  • Subscribe
  • Give a Gift
  • Newsletter

Additional

  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Terms of Use & Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 · IrishAmerica Child Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in