Robert Whyte's 1847 famine ship diary: the journey of an Irish coffin ship

The voyage of the 'coffin ship' Ajax, from Dublin to Grosse Île, the Canadian quarantine station as described in the contemporary diary of one of the passengers, Robert Whyte.

Whyte was a Protestant gentleman of education and position, as well as being a professional writer who intended to publish his diary.

The diary appeared in 1848. It is signed in the author's own handwriting and features vivid descriptions of the spectacular scenery along the way and the striking delineations of the passengers, the crew and the suffering travellers.