By fateful coincidence, a SECOND brig bound for Québec from Ireland wrecked off the Scottish coast of Islay – on 28th April 1847– the exact same day that the Carricks wrecked upon arrival in Québec.
Of the 241 Irish emigrants who lost their lives on the 28th April 1847, 63 children under the age of 14, and 9 infants.
The ‘Exmouth of Newcastle‘ left Derry bound for Quebec in the worst year of Ireland’s Great Famine. Most of passengers were women and children going out to join fathers and reunite with families who had already settled in Canada.
The Isle of Islay is the southernmost island of the Inner Southern Hebrides of Scotland. The Isle of Jura, the Kintyre peninsula and Northern Ireland are Islay’s neighbours. The Irish Saint Columba visited the Isle of Islay on his way north in about 720 AD, prior to founding the famous monastery on the Isle of Iona off the south-west tip of the Isle of Mull. In Gaelic, the island’s name is spelt Ìle and pronounced EE-leh by native Gaelic speakers.
From an edited account from the Illustrated London News of May 8, 1847:
“We are sorry to have to record the loss of the ship Exmouth, under very painful circumstances, the loss of life being very great. According to the statement of three sailors, the sole survivors of the wreck, and who arrived in Glasgow on Saturday evening, the Exmouth, sailed from Londonderry for Quebec with a light south west breeze. She had a crew of 11 men (inclusive of the captain Isaac Booth), and about 240 emigrants, consisting principally of small farmers and tradesmen, with their families. Many were females and children going out to join their fathers and protectors, who had already settled in Canada. There were also three cabin passengers, young unmarried ladies of the middle classes, two of them being sisters, on their way to join their relatives at St. John, New Brunswick. “
Visit The Isle of Islay information website for a powerful reporting of the events.
Ghost of the Carricks 