A Documentary of Irish Courage and Canadian Legacy

Written and Directed by Dr Gearóid ÓhAllmhuráin | Narrated by Irish award winning poet and playwright Vincent Woods

Synopsis of the Film

In production by Celtic Crossings Productions (for Release in 2022) * Delayed by COVID-19

In March 1847, at the height of Irish famine, Patrick Kaveney and Sarah McDonnald embarked with their six young children on a two-mast brig, Carricks of Whitehaven, across the wild Atlantic destined for Canada and a new life.

Together with the other Irish-speaking passengers of the heavily loaded ship, they were being transported off the Irish estates of Lord Palmerston, one of the most powerful British politicians in history.

Serving twice as British Prime Minister and in office almost continuously from 1807 until 1865, Palmerston’s immense estates in Ireland included 20,000 acres and over 14,000 tenants.

On the 28th April, the Brig Carricks encountered a severe storm in the Gulf of St Lawrence which wrecked the ship and scattered debris and survivors along the coast just 4 miles east of Cape Rosier.

Of the 183 people who were transported off Palmerston’s Sligo estates on the Carricks, only 48 would survive the journey.

Lost Children of the Carricks places the Canadian experience of the Irish speaking Kaveneys into historical context, their integration and adaptation to the frozen wilderness of rural Québec and how they kept their Gaelic language and culture alive in a foreign land.

Finally, the film follows Georges Kavanagh, their French speaking descendant who has dedicated his life to preserving the family’s oral history.

In 2015, Georges triumphantly reversed the journey returning 6 Kavanaghs to Ireland from the Gaspé to reunite with long lost relatives.