Exiles – Irish Famine Emigrants (the Great Famine XIX)

Emigration is arguably the greatest legacy of the Great Irish Famine. Between 1846 and 1851, 1.25 million Irish people passed through the port of Liverpool alone to escape the Great Hunger. This is their story.

The exodus of refugees fom Ireland after 1846 transformed the Great Famine from an Irish catastrophe into a global phenomenon as these people established Irish communities across the world. It is there fore fitting then that the show opens with a story from the Canadian city of Montreal in the 1870s.

The we will hone in on the port of Liverpool which provides us an overall picture of what was happening. 

Then to conclude I look at profiles of Irish famine emigrants. Who were these people? How did they manage to escape Ireland?  I also debunk some common myths along the way.