ABSTRACT

Patrick (12) and Thomas (6) Quinn were forced to emigrate in May 1847 with their family from Lissonuffy on the Strokestown estate of Major Denis Mahon in County Roscommon, which is now the site of the Irish National Famine Museum. They sailed on board the Naomi, which was one of the worst of the 'coffin ships'. It arrived in Quebec on 10 August, 1847, after carrying 421 steerage passengers from Liverpool on a journey to Grosse Isle that lasted forty five days, of whom 196 or slightly under fifty percent perished, including 78 at sea, 31 at quarantine, and a further 87 in the quarantine hospital on the island. The boys were left orphans on Grosse Isle, adopted by a French-Canadian family, and both became priests who served mixed French-Canadian and Irish Catholic congregations. On 25 June 1912, Thomas Quinn thanked the French-Canadian people for their generosity in an address at the First Congress of the French Language in Canada, held in Quebec City. His speech was titled 'Une Voix d'lrlande' ('A Voice from Ireland') and published in Premier Congris de La Langue Français an Canada. Quebec 24—30 Juin 1912 (Québec: Imprimerie de l'Action Sociale Limitee. 1913). 1 It is published in English in this book for the first time. 2