Homeport:: Tralee, Co Kerry Year built: 2000 Owner: The Jeanie Johnston (Ireland) Company Ltd Rig: Barque 3 Length: 45m 
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Jeanie Johnston was built at Blennerville, Tralee, Ireland as a replica of a barque built by John Munn at Quebec in 1847. In the immediate aftermath of the Great Famine in Ireland during which a million people died of hunger and another million emigrated, the original Jeanie Johnston carried over 2,500 frightened and starving emigrants from Blennerville to the New World from 1848 to 1855. The replica was built to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Famine and as a Millennium Project to celebrate the historic links between Ireland and North America. The ship is a traditional wooden barque. The frames are made of Irish Oak, the planking and bulwark is Austrian Larch, the lower deck, Masts and Spars are Douglas Fir and the capping rails, pin rails, main deck and deckhouse cladding are in Iroko. An Irish led international team of highly skilled wooden boat shipwrights completed the hull in just over two years. They, in turn, trained young Irish people from both traditions in Ireland, North and South, in building wooden shipst. The hull was launched in May 2000 and fitted out at the nearby port of Fenit. The maiden transatlantic voyage was from Fenit in February 2003, encountering extremely heavy seas most of the way south. The North American Tour was a huge success and she returned from St. John’s Newfoundland, arriving at Fenit after an exciting 13 day crossing on November 6th 2003. The around Ireland Tour of 2004 was rounded off by a 16 day return voyage to La Coruna. Jeanie Johnston continues to have an all Ireland North/South dimension in that young people from diverse polarised backgrounds in Northern Ireland and the Republic participated in both transatlantic crossings, the North American Tour, the Around Ireland Tour and the voyage to La Coruna.

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