WTOC, Savannah, Georgia, news, weather and sports | Tall Ship Docked in Savannah

Tall Ship Docked in Savannah

River Street is the home of the Irish tall ship Jeanie Johnson for the next nine days. The 19th-century replica arrived this morning. Members of the Irish community met the ship at the mouth of the river before dawn and then were on hand for the docking. The ship is a featured attraction of this weekend's Seafood Festival, and visitors will be welcomed aboard.

With this area's large Irish community the ship's visit is especially significant. The Jeanie Johnston is a replica of the ships that brought many of our Irish to the area over a century and a half ago. WTOC went aboard this morning to see what it must have been like all those years ago.

Over 5,000 miles separate the mouth of the Savannah River from County Kerry, Ireland. It's a crossing that takes over two months in a ship like the Jeanie Johnston, a nostalgic replica of the the famine ships that brought the early Irish to Savannah across the treacherous seas and violent storms of the dark Atlantic.

Michael Coleman is the captain of the Jeanie Johnston as she comes into Savannah. As a sailor and an Irishman, he understands the courage of his 19th-century ancestors.

"They would have a couple of hundred of them," he told us. "They would cram them in cubicles, there'd be a family per cubicle, maybe two families per cubicle, in appalling circumstances."

Savannah River pilot John McCarthy navigated the Irish ship to River Street.

"The Irish have a deep and rich traditional history on this river," he said.

Two million Irish immigrated to America from 1848 to 1854 to escape the Great Hunger that befell their homeland. A goodly portion landed in Savannah, but many of their number didn't land at all. Ironically, the original Jeanie Johnston crossed the Atlantic 14 times during the Irish exodus, without ever losing a single passenger.

The ship is docked on River Street in front of Kevin Barry's, where it will welcome visitors through Sunday May 11.

Reported by: Craig Harney, charney@wtoc.com