I'm editing the second historical novel in a trilogy about the Irish Famine years. Annie Power and Jane Keating both left Ireland in the Famine year 1846.
In Daughters in Exile, Annie arrives in New York with her brother and sister.
Jane has taken Annie's place on a convict transportation ship to Melbourne, New South Wales in Australia. The two friends, Annie, seventeen, and Jane, sixteen, will stay in contact.
The Famine ship, the Dunbrody, is a replica of the type of ship that Annie and Jane would have sailed on in 1846. The Dunbrody (pictured) is anchored at New Ross, County Wexford.
A real-life example of Irish Famine emigration.
New Ross was the home of President John F Kennedy's great grandfather, Patrick Kennedy and his wife Bridget, née Murphy. The couple emigrated during the Famine years, settled in Boston in 1849 and had five children.
Annie and her siblings will settle in Manhattan. Jane will attempt to join them.
The next blog will cover some of the research I did on Melbourne in 1846.
I plan to self-publish Daughters in Exile towards the end of May 2022.
PS I have just self-published this now, the 5th October, 2022! A bit later than anticipated!