Irish emigration wasn't peculiar to the famine years of 1845 to 50, but it did take a dramatically sharp rise during this period. People were leaving from the 1700's on in search of a better life right through to ships like the Titanic that stopped in Cobh, Co. Cork to collect Irish emigrants hoping for a better life abroad.

The typical journey time was between one and two months. At first, the ships only sailed in the Summer months when the weather was best, but the sheer volume of emigrants during the famine forced ships to sail through-out the year despite the threat from storms and icebergs.

The Poor Law made landlords responsible for paying rates for any tenant with land worth 4 pounds or less. With the famine, many landlords simply evicted tenants to reduce the tax they had to pay, leaving those with little option but to emigrate if they could afford the fare of £3 ($3.45). But some landlords subsidised or paid the fair of tenants to the USA out of genuine pity and to give them some hope of a future, if not in their own land.
The Passenger Act, when passed, meant that each passenger was entitled to 6 pints of water per day and an amount of food.

Old ships like the 'Elizabeth & Sarah' built in 1763 were still being used in 1846, 83 years later to carry Irish emigrants.

Ironically the convict ship proved to have far better conditions for their 'passengers' than emigrant ships, governed by a series of regulations. See Deportation for more information.
Many ships were not designed to carry passengers. They would carry cargo such a wood on the journey into Ireland and prior to the famine would have been empty on the return journey. Now wooden bunks would be hastily erected before setting sail.

Ships sailed from many Irish ports including Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Belfast, Drogheda and Sligo,
There were generally three classes of travel; Cabin, Second Cabin and Steerage. Better-off passengers would have their own cabin and live cattle carried on board, would be killed to provide freshly cooked meat for them.
"The Virginius sailed from Liverpool, May 28, with 476 passengers. Fever and dysentery cases came on board the vessel in Liverpool, and deaths occurred before leaving the Mersey. On mustering the passengers for inspection yesterday, it was found that 106 were ill of fever, including nine of the crew, and the large number of 158 had died on the passage, including the first and second officers and seven of the crew, and the master and the steward dying, the few that were able to come on deck were ghastly yellow looking spectres, unshaven and hollow cheeked, and, without exception, the worst looking passengers I have ever seen; not more than six or eight were really healthy and able to exert themselves"

Written in a report by Dr Douglas, at Grosse Isle in Quebec, December 1847, were a large number of Irish emigrants arrived a the height of the famine.

It is possible the have a list of ships sailing from Ireland from 1700's through to the late 1800's searched for you automatically, see the Ancestor Search Form for more information.