CHILDRENS BONES ATTRIBUTED TO 1847 SHIPWRECK: In 2001, a passerby discovered skeletal remains on the shoreline of Cap-des-Rosiers, 700 kilometres northeast of Quebec City. The teeth and bones were later identified as three children who likely had little rest in their short lives. Erosion had exposed them to the elements and disturbed the resting place. Archaeologists examined the bones for clues to their origin and now believe the three were victims of the wreck of the Carricks, one of the many “coffin ships” that crossed the Atlantic carrying Irish migrants fleeing famine in their homeland. The Carricks was heading to Quebec City, but foundered in a violent storm off Cap-des-Rosiers in 1847. Reports of the death toll vary, but about 100 bodies washed ashore after the storm and were buried in a mass grave; survivors were taken in by local families. Montreal’s St. Patrick’s parish later erected a stone marker at the site commemorating the tragedy, which stands only 40 yards from where the children’s skeletal remains were found. The bones are thought to have eroded out of that mass grave. For more on the bones read the full story by INGRID PERITZ in The Globe and Mail at theglobeandmail/news/national/human-bones-discovered-on-gaspe-peninsula-witnesses-to-a-tragic-event/article22234819/?cmpid=rss1 ABOUT THE CARRICKS: The Carricks was a two masted brig of 244 tons. She was built at Workington in 1812. In March 1847 the Carricks had sailed from Sligo bound for Quebec under the command of Captain R.Thompson, with Irish emigrants from the estates of Lord Palmerston. On April 28, 1847 she ran into a severe storm in the Gulf of St Lawrence and was wrecked about four miles east of Cape Rosier. The numbers vary according to which reports you read, but of the 166 to 200 passengers fleeing the Irish potato famine, nine had already died on the voyage, between 87 and 119 died when the Carricks was wrecked. Of the crew, all survived except for one boy. The dead were buried in a mass grave, while the survivors were taken in by families in the village.
Posted on: Tue, 30 Dec 2014 13:21:27 +0000
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