The Madness of Mother Nature: Wreck of the Irish Immigrant Ship, the Carrick

Recently there have been several news reports about bodies found on a beach in Gaspé that were buried in 1847. 

In 2011 the bones of three children were found washed up on the beach after a violent storm. Five years later an exhaustive survey of the area unearthed the remains of 18 others. It has been determined that all of them were likely buried together is a shallow trench, creating a makeshift cemetery for the victims. Stories from the survivors, along with analyses of the remains concluded that these bodies were from the ship wrecked in 1847.

Due to poor preservation, only small parts of the skeletons of the deceased were recoverable. Following analyses of the bones, to help determine where the individuals originated and their physical condition at the time of death, the remains were to be reburied in a cemetery near the Irish Memorial on Cap-des-Rosiers Beach. Tests showed the individuals were from an area in which the main diet was potatoes and that they were suffering from diseases related to malnutrition.

Those buried were from the ship, Carricks, which was wrecked during a storm near Cap de Rosier, Quebec, Canada. She sailed from Sligo, Ireland, in March 1847, with 173 passengers, all desperate survivors of the Potato Famine in search of a better life in Canada. Only 48 survived. The passengers were from 27 families originating in or near County Sligo. Descendants of the survivors still reside in the area.

 

The scene at Skibbereen, west Cork, in 1847. From a series of illustrations by Cork artist James Mahony (1810–1879), commissioned by Illustrated London News 1847. (in public domain; retrieved 20 June 2019 from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Skibbereen_by_James_Mahony,_1847.JPG)

After a rough passage of 23 days, the ship was caught in a blinding snowstorm in the middle of the night and was driven by winds on to the rocky coast of the Gaspé Peninsula. I won’t recount the entire story here. You can read about it in many articles and news reports and in a book a book published in 1919, titled Treasure Trove in Gaspé and The Baie des Chaleurs. A documentary was filmed

This lone ship was part of a much larger exodus from Ireland that arrived in the St. Laurence River area of Canada. The river was a conduit for refugees escaping the famine in Ireland between 1845 and 1849. Most arrived in the New World sicker than they were when they left, due to poor hygiene, limited food and water supplies, bad weather and the very close confines in the bellies of the ships that carried them. Upon their arrival in Canadian waters, ships were quarantined until authorities could determine whether they posed health-risks to any community in which they settled.

 

Map of Gaspé, Quebec region showing locations of Cap-des-Rosiers and Grosse Isle

Treatment by Canadian immigration personnel was harsh and, in many cases, inhumane. People were trapped on arriving ships, including those already sick and dead. Medical assistance was lacking in any substantive way. By 1847, even the limited resources were overwhelmed by the large numbers of immigrants.

At Gross Isle, Quebec, a central depot had been established in 1832 for receiving, housing and treating people coming to Canada to contain a cholera epidemic. It was reopened and expanded to accommodate Irish immigrants in the 1840s. Notwithstanding attempts to aid passengers, thousands died on the trip across the ocean and while trapped at Gross Isle. Over 5,000 people are buried on the island. From 1832 to 1932, nearly 500,000 Irish immigrants to Canada passed through Grosse Isle.

The experience for those on board the ship, Carricks, was like the trifecta of Mother Nature’s madness: famine, disease and storms. In biblical terms, it was as if three of the Four horsemen of the Apocalypse (Famine, Pestilence and Death) had descended on this helpless group.

References:

MacWhirter, Margaret Grant. (1919). Treasure Trove in Gaspé and The Baie des Chaleurs. Quebec: The Telegraph Printing Co. 217 pp. 

Selected online blogs, articles and news summaries:

·         Memorials to the Carricks of Whtehavem https://ghostofthecarricks.wordpress.com/monument/

·         Bones found on beach in Quebec’s Gaspé are from 1847 Irish shipwreck (CP) 9 June 2019 https://globalnews.ca/news/5371235/bones-gaspe-irish-shipwreck-parks-canada/

·         Genealogy a la Carte (Gail Dever) 13 June 2019 http://genealogyalacarte.ca/?p=28479

·         Human remains found in Gaspé are from 1847 Irish shipwreck, Parks Canada confirms (spencer Van Dyk) 7 June 2019  https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/carricks-shipwreck-remains-1.5166478?

·         Bones found in Gaspé confirmed to be from 1847 shipwreck victims fleeing Irish potato famine (Morgan Lowrie) 10 June 2019 https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/bones-found-in-gaspe-confirmed-to-be-from-1847-shipwreck-victims-fleeing-irish-potato-famine-1.4459202

·         Lost Children of the Carricks Documentary, Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/carricksofwhitehaven/videos/191785188402448/

·         Grosse Isle, Quebec – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grosse_Isle,_Quebec

·         The Irish Exodus – https://www.libraryireland.com/irishamerica/irish-exodus.php