Dwarfed by cargo ships, stately liners and the Staten Island ferry, the Jeanie Johnston sailed proudly up the Hudson River yesterday at the climax of a historic transatlantic journey which began five months ago in Fenit, Co Kerry.
The 37-metre-long Famine replica ship, which anchored off the Statue of Liberty the previous evening, was greeted by fire-boats spraying red, white and blue plumes of water as it docked at Battery Park City on the southern tip of Manhattan.
The original 18-sail vessel brought a total of 2,500 Irish immigrants on 16 voyages to the New World in the mid-19th century without losing a single passenger.
The Jeanie Johnston first made landfall on April 17th at West Palm Beach, Florida, and it has been making its way up the east coast to New York since then, stopping at major ports.
As it arrived at the marina by the World Financial Centre, the tenor Ronan Tynan sang Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears, followed by a rendition of America the Beautiful by the New York Fire Department Emerald Society Pipes and Drums.
The welcoming party included the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Mr O'Donoghue, Mr Jim McGuigan, executive vice-president North America of Tourism Ireland, Mr James Gill, chairman of the Battery Park City Authority, and the author Carol Higgins Clark. A letter from Mayor Michael Bloomberg was read by Mr Bill Cunningham from the mayor's office.
The marina where the Jeanie Johnston moored is close to the site of the World Trade Centre and adjacent to the Irish Famine Memorial, a re-creation of an abandoned field and cottage in post-Famine Mayo. It is fronted by the glass and concrete tower of Merrill Lynch, the firm where many Irish immigrants found a foothold in New York's financial life.
The Jeanie Johnston is captained by Tom McCarthy, from Cork, and the current crew includes eight trainees from both sides of the Border: Brian Allen, Brian Brough, Chris McClure, Mark McQuillan, Paul McGuigan, Francis McCann, Daniel Reilly and Darren Hussey, plus group leader Tony McAteer, from Newry.
The group, brought together by the Wider Horizons programme of the International Fund for Ireland, were on board for the last leg of the journey from Bristol, Pennsylvania, and are part of a total of over 100 young people who have been involved with the Jeanie Johnston since its construction.
"We believe that the historic voyage of the Jeanie Johnston will encourage Irish-Americans to remember their past and then to come and explore their ancestral and heritage ties in Ireland," Mr O'Donoghue said.
After 10 days in New York, during which the vessel will be open to the public, the Jeanie Johnston will resume its northward voyage, calling at Port Jefferson, Newport, Providence, Boston, Portsmouth, St Andrews, Saint John, Halifax, Miramichi, Montreal, Quebec City and St John's, Newfoundland.
The first voyage of the original Jeanie Johnston in 1848 was to Quebec, when the fare was three pounds ten shillings or half a year's pay for a typical immigrant.