The Famine Immigrants

Between 1846 and 1851, 2,227 ships completed 2,743 voyages and transported 652,931 Irish immigrants to Port of New York. By far most ships departed from Liverpool. By contrast there were sixty-nine departures from the Port of Galway. The data base for this web site contains the complete list of Irish passengers for seventeen of them. They were extracted from The Famine Immigrants, Lists of Irish Immigrants Arriving at the Port of New York, 1846-1851, Ira Glazier, ed., Baltimore: Genealogical Press, 1984.

Most men seem to have emigrated over during the first half of a calendar year and sent for their wives and children who often arrived during the second half of the year. Some like Edward Hart sailed from Galway aboard The Messenger to New York, was accompanied by his wife, Bridget who was with child. After arriving in New York on 24 May 1848, they settled with many of their neighbors from north County Galway in Wilmington, Delaware.

We are now also pleased to bring you passenger lists for ships arriving directly into the port of New Castle, Delaware prior to the Great Irish Famine of the 1840s. Many of these immigrants came from northern Irish counties. These records were extracted and transcribed by volunteers. The Delaware Public Archives has graciously given us permission to place these records on this web site.

Researchers are very much encouraged to verify data by checking original sources or microfilm copies. Please send comments or errors detected to Joe Lalley