Series 10 - P. O'Neil voyage diary

39pp

Kerby A. Miller created his transcript of the O'Neil diary from a microfilm held in the Sir Stephen Edward de Vere fonds, Library and Archives Canada [microfilm reel A-1618]. The original de Vere manuscripts are held in the Trinity College Dublin Library Manuscripts Collection.

• Transcript of the voyage diary of P. O'Neil and wife who sailed from London to Grosse Isle near Quebec in 1847;
• Correspondence regarding the diary including photocopies of a microfilm containing the diary;
• Transcript of Gerald Keegan’s emigration diary, also from 1847, as published in O’Driscoll & Reynolds, eds., (1988), The Untold Story: The Irish in Canada. Keegan, a young schoolmaster who left Ireland with relatives and his fiancée in search of a better life in Canada, documents the overcrowded emigrant voyage, tensions aboard the ship, and the widespread disease, hunger, and mortality that characterized famine migration. Upon arrival at Grosse Isle, the principal quarantine station for Irish immigrants in Canada, the emigrants encountered severe hardship as typhus spread and medical resources proved inadequate. Members of Keegan’s family succumbed to illness. The narrative also examines contemporary responses to the crisis, criticising landlord and governmental policies while acknowledging the efforts of clergy, medical workers, and local families who cared for the sick and orphaned.