Irish people have been emigrating for hundreds of years, leaving home and their worldly possessions behind.Findmypast
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As we know, Hidden amongst almost 2 million articles in the Irish Newspaper Collection on Findmypast, are tales of love, loss and bravery experienced by our ancestors as they left the Emerald Isle behind.
Leaving your home behind must have been hard enough but losing all your worldly possessions along the way would have been nothing short of heart-breaking. Such was the fate of the 70 emigrants on board the Kent in 1842:
Dublin Evening Mail, June 24th, 1842.
Because so many ships encountered difficulty at sea at this time, you’ll also discover some of the most heroic tales imaginable like the almost unbelievable act of bravery by a German emigrant who saved a baby boy’s life during a ship wreck near Rush in Dublin.
Dublin Evening Mail, January 23rd, 1854.
It wasn’t all hardship on the long journeys away from Ireland though. Our ancestors even stood a chance of meeting their soul mates. This couple were married by the ship’s captain on board an emigrant ship to Australia!
Belfast Morning News, June 27th, 1860
Did your ancestors make headlines as they travelled the World? Trace them on Findmypast and find out.
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