The Coffin Ship: Life and Death at Sea during the Great Irish Famine (The Glucksman Irish Diaspora, #4)

by Cian T. McMahon

Honorable Mention, Theodore Saloutos Book Award, given by the Immigration and Ethnic History Society
A vivid, new portrait of Irish migration through the letters and diaries of those who fled their homeland during the Great Famine
The standard story of the exodus during Ireland’s Great Famine is one of tired clichés, half-truths, and dry statistics. In The Coffin Ship, a groundbreaking work of transnational history, Cian T. McMahon offers a vibrant, fresh perspective on an oft-ignored but vital component of the migration experience: the journey itself.
Between 1845 and 1855, over two million people fled Ireland to escape the Great Famine and begin new lives abroad. The so-called “coffin ships” they embarked on have since become infamous icons of nineteenth-century migration. The crews were brutal, the captains were heartless, and the weather was ferocious. Yet the personal experiences of the emigrants aboard these vessels offer us a much more complex understanding of this pivotal moment in modern history. Based on archival research on three continents and written in clear, crisp prose, The Coffin Ship analyzes the emigrants’ own letters and diaries to unpack the dynamic social networks that the Irish built while voyaging overseas. At every stage of the journey—including the treacherous weeks at sea—these migrants created new threads in the worldwide web of the Irish diaspora.
Colored by the long-lost voices of the emigrants themselves, this is an original portrait of a process that left a lasting mark on Irish life at home and abroad. An indispensable read, The Coffin Ship makes an ambitious argument for placing the sailing ship alongside the tenement and the factory floor as a central, dynamic element of migration history.

• ISBN10: 1479808768
• ISBN13: 9781479808762
• Publish Date: 1 June 2021
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: New York University Press
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 336
• Language: English

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

The Coffin Ship is a layman accessible academic look at the years of the Great Irish Famine written and presented by Dr. Cian T. McMahon. Released 1st June 2021 by NYU Press, it's 328 pages and is available in hardcover and ebook formats. This is the second book in the Glucksman Irish Diaspora Series.

This is a well written academic treatise, both harrowing and moving, of the Irish diaspora during the great famine of 1841-1851. This book, while academically rigorous and prodigiously annotated throughout is mostly accessible to non-academics. The language is understandable and readable and the author allows the subjects to speak eloquently for themselves, with many contemporaneous excerpts from diarists, historians, and the emigrants themselves.

The language is precise and academic, but not overly obfuscating or difficult. My own family history is closely tied to these trans-Atlantic emigrations, since the majority of both side of my family survived the crossings during and after the famines in Ireland. It was interesting to read a more balanced view of the transport ships and the experiences of people who lived through their own words and the data collected from the historical records left behind.

The book is arranged thematically by aspects of the journey: preparation, embarkation, life, death, and arrival. There are numerous useful appendices including an in-depth explanation of data, source, and methodology which give readers a helpful lesson in winnowing information and judging sources. The book is meticulously annotated throughout and the chapter notes and bibliography will provide readers with many (many!) hours of further reading.

This would be a useful and resource rich choice for public and school libraries, hobby genealogists, historians, and readers interested in allied subjects. I found the writing slightly academic and precise for a "pleasure" read, but appreciated the academic rigor and accuracy.

Five stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.