The original Dunbrody was a three masted barque built in Quebec in 1845 by Thomas Hamilton Oliver.
She was commissioned by the Graves family, merchants from New Ross in Wexford and operated primarily as a cargo vessel. She was fitted with bunks and between April to September from 1845 to 1851, she carried passengers on the outward leg to Canada and the US. These passengers were people desperate to escape the famine conditions in Ireland at the time and conditions for steerage passengers were tough. 
