Bill McCondichie from Argyll recently holidayed on the remote Inner Hebridean island of Islay, the final resting place of more than 240 men, women and children who left Londonderry in 1847, bound for a new life in Quebec.
Their emigrant ship, the Exmouth of Newcastle, would tragically never reach its destination.
Mr McCondichie described the memorial to the victims as "hauntingly beautiful." He said it was difficult to comprehend the suffering the passengers must have endured.
The Exmouth, owned by John Eden of South Shields, left the port of Derry on April 25, 1847, with a crew of 11 and 241 Irish emigrants - including 72 children - and a further three women passengers, despite being registered for only 165 passengers.
On April 28, and as a strong wind grew to a gale, the ship crashed onto the rocks off the west of Islay. Only three crew members survived.
A total of 108 bodies, mostly women and children (63 under the age of 14, and 9 infants) were recovered and are buried in a mass grave at Traigh Bhan.
A report published in the Illustrated London News of May 8, 1847 stated : "There was no cry from the multitude cooped up within the hull of the ill-fated brig; or at least it was unheard, for the commotion of the elements was so furious that the men on the top could scarcely hear each other at the top of their voices."
Mr McCondichie, who contacted the Sentinel via our internet site, said the memorial is a fitting tribute to the lives lost.
"The location is so remote and tranquil and the mass grave is by a hauntingly beautiful beach. The inscription on the memorial says it all--and it is repeated on the back of the monument in Irish Gaelic.
"I was almost moved to tears at the thought of the suffering of these poor people--and so many children--so long ago.
"Despite the passage of time I thought that many of your readers would be interested to learn that such a tragedy is so tastefully remembered in such a beautiful and remote island location."
The Exmouth is one of more than 40 ships known to have sank off the coast of the small island of Islay.