In 1823 and 1825 11 ships set sail from Cobh with over 500 nuclear families on board from Munster to a new life in the Ottawa Valley and Ontario in Canada.
As we approach 2025, 200 years on from the emigration scheme, tracing the names on the passenger lists reveals and unfolds families, connections, and ties on both sides of the Atlantic.
Ballyhoura Development has identified the families who left the region almost 200 years ago to Ontario and the Ottawa Valley in Canada. This is based upon the records of the scheme maintained by Peter Robinson.
These show that there was a total of nearly five hundred distinct nuclear families and unattached adults in the scheme, the great bulk being families with two parents and their children.
The records of the scheme list the passengers on each ship under family headings and give ages, occupations and former residences. There is also a ‘remarks’ column where each supporting landlord is named, and where in many cases comments are recorded on the disposition of the adults, deaths occurring during the voyage, and other comments, written by Robinson.
2023 marks the 200th anniversary of the Hebe and Stakesby ships to the Ottawa Valley and 2025 will mark the 200th anniversary of the 9 ships that departed Cobh to Ontario.
In anticipation, there is a project ongoing to find out more about the families that left Ireland to embark on a new life in Canada.
In September 2023, Ballyhoura Development organised a Zoom meeting with some of the settler descendants who have reached out to find out more about the home of their forefathers with much appetite to keep connected.
The descendants of the families aboard these ships are now spread across the globe. Many are still living and farming on the original farms they built on the former first nations lands. Others moved elsewhere in North America, across Canada and into the US. Their descendants have become regular visitors to Ireland and now as the first sailings of 1823 are being remembered the main sailings of 1825 are in our sights.
Over the coming months, coinciding with the journey of these families from the Ballyhoura region to the New World, we will explore and tell some of their stories of the country they left and the land they moved to.
We know that these are stories embedded in our communities, and that the ancestors of those who left are still resident here.
If you have ancestors who were on board these ships, stories of those who left, those left behind, or of recent connections with family in the new world, we would love to hear them and, with your permission, to share them.
Ballyhoura Development will also support building awareness of this piece of our history in the Ballyhoura Region and so a series of coffee mornings is being planned across communities from where the settlers hailed from.
If you wish to share any stories, or take part in the commemoration of the Peter Robinson Settlers, or would like to find out more please fill out the below contact form:
Contact Form
Alternatively, you can contact Amanda Slattery at [email protected].
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