I have mentioned Isaac Weld before., in the context of his sailing the Lakes of Killarney in a boat made of brown paper. He was also one of the first people, at least in Europe, to take a long sea voyage in one of the newfangled steamboats as a passenger rather than a crew member. Even better, he left an account of his journey.
One George Dodd was taking a steamer, originally called the Argyle, from the Clyde (where steamers came from) to the Thames, after which he renamed the boat. This was in 1815, only three years after Henry Bell‘s Comet began the first commercially successful steamboat service in Europe. [The first such service in America was inaugurated in 1807 by Robert Fulton, who was mentioned here the other day.]
Dodd took the steamer into Dublin en route to London and Isaac Weld, greatly interested, decided to travel on board for the rest of the trip. Weld’s wife, née Alexandra Hope, decided to accompany him; she may have been the first woman, at least in Europe, to take a long sea trip on a steam boat.
Here is a version of Weld’s account of his trip, as published in the Belfast Commercial Chronicle on 24 April 1816. It may have been translated from English to French and back again.
Irish waterways history 