In the winter of 1846, Irish immigrants in America began to hear troubling news from their home country: a potato famine was ravaging the countryside and driving desperate farmers and families into the cities. Soon more than 1 million people would perish.

Learning of the horror and despair, Americans became determined to respond to the crisis. In March 1847, a crucial relief mission departed from Boston, carrying hundreds of barrels of food and aid across the Atlantic Ocean directly to the shores of Ireland.

It would eventually become the first global humanitarian mission of its kind, setting a precedent for America’s growing role in the world, and strengthening the unique bond between Ireland and the U.S.

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Voyage of Mercy

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