Book launch: The Wreck of the Annie Jane

The Wreck of the Annie Jane, by Allan F Murray, has been published by Acair. The 232-page paperback tells the story of the ship Annie Jane, which set sail from Liverpool in late 1853 heading for Quebec with 450 people on board, most of them Irish emigrants fleeing poverty. They didn't make it. The ship was wrecked in a storm and driven onto the rocks of Vatersay, a small island in the Outer Hebrides. Some 350 passengers and crew lost their lives.

Regular readers of Irish Genealogy News may remember a 2015 blogpost in which Allan asked for family history research assistance to explore the lives and extended families of those who died and survived.

This new book is the product of his research, which included the discovery of two surviving eye-witness accounts of the tragedy, and records for posterity the names of those who perished and survived one of the worst shipwrecks off these islands.

It is on sale for £12.95 via Acair and Amazon.

ISBN: 9780861524129