Despite the number of passengers, and the long voyage, no crew or passenger lives were ever lost on board the "Jeanie Johnston". This is generally attributed to the captain, James Attridge, not overloading the ship, and the presence of a qualified doctor, Richard Blennerhassett, on board for the passengers. On the maiden voyage from Tralee to Quebec in April 1848, a boy was born aboard the ship. To mark the unusual surroundings of his birth, the parents, Daniel and Margaret Reilly, named the baby Nicholas (after the co-owner of the vessel Nicholas Donovan) Johnston (after the ship) so Nicholas Johnston Reilly was added to the passenger list.