Getting to The Jeanie
The Jeanie Johnston Pub and Grill is located between the Arborway and Center Street in Jamaica Plain. We are very easy to get to by car or bus. The 39 Bus stops across the street and the Forest Hills Green Line Stop is only about a half mile away. Click here to view on Google Maps.
Functions
The Jeanie Johnston Pub and Grill is available for functions. Contact us if you are interested in hosting a function (birthday party, wedding reception, etc.) at The Jeanie. Please email us for more information at: functions@jeaniejohnstonpub.com or give us a call 617.983.9432
Our Namesake • Jeanie Johnston • The Legendary Irish Famine Ship
Kathryn Miles tells the story of the "Luckiest Ship in the World" in her book, All Standing. The book can be found on Amazon by clicking here.
History and Replica Jeanie Johnston
The above photograph depicts the Jeanie Johnston sailing vessel. A replica of a three masted barque that was originally built in Quebec, Canada, in 1847 by the Scottish-born shipbuilder John Munn. The replica Jeanie Johnston performs a number of functions: an ocean-going sail training vessel at sea and in port converts into a living history museum on 19th century emigration and in the evenings, is used as an event venue.
The original Jeanie Johnston was a cargo vessel that traded successfully between Tralee and North America for a number of years. The trading pattern was to bring emigrants from Ireland to North America, and then to bring timber back to Europe.
She made her maiden emigrant voyage from Quebec on April 24, 1848 with 193 emigrants on board, as the effects of the Famine ravaged Ireland. Between 1848 and 1855, the Jeanie Johnston made 16 voyages to North America, sailing to Quebec, Baltimore, and New York. On average, the length of the transatlantic journey was 47 days. The most passengers she ever carried was 254, from Quebec on April 17, 1852. To put this number in perspective, the replica ship is only licensed to carry 40 people including crew.
Despite the number of passengers, and the long voyage, no crew or passenger lives were ever lost on board the Jeanie Johnston. This is generally attributed to the captain, James Attridge, not overloading the ship, and the presence of a qualified doctor, Richard Blennerhassett, on board for the passengers. On the maiden voyage from Quebec a boy was born aboard the ship. To mark the unusual surroundings of his birth, the parents, Daniel and Margaret Reilly, named the baby Nicholas (after the co-owner of the vessel Nicholas Donovan) Johnston (after the ship) so Nicholas Johnston Reilly was added to the passenger list.
In 1855, the ship was sold to William Johnson of North Shields in England. In 1858, en route to Quebec from Hull with a cargo of timber, she became waterlogged. The crew climbed into the rigging, and after nine days clinging to their slowly sinking ship, they were rescued by a Dutch ship, the Sophie Elizabeth. Even in her loss, she maintained her perfect safety record.
In 2003 the replica Jeanie Johnston sailed from Tralee to Canada and the United States visiting 32 US and Canadian cities and attracting over 100,000 visitors. She took part in the Tall Ships Race from Waterford to Cherbourg in 2005 and finished 60th out of 65 ships. The crew dropped in to The Jeanie Johnston Pub and Grill one night, while making port in Boston.
The replica is currently owned by the Dublin Docklands Development Authority, who bought it in 2005. During that time she carried approximately 980 sail trainees and over 2,500 passengers, making regular visits to ports around Britain and Ireland, and also undertaking several trips to Spain each summer, often carrying voyage crew who intended to join the Camino de Santiago. In between these voyages she would offer day-sails in Dublin Bay.