• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Irish America

Irish America

        • Who We Are
          • About Us
          • Irish America Team
        • The Lists
          • Business 100
          • Hall of Fame
          • Health and Life Sciences 50
          • Wall Street 50
        • Highlights
          • History
          • In This Issue
          • Music
          • Politics
          • Sports
          • Travel
        • Columns
          • First Word
          • Hibernia
          • Quote Unquote
          • Slainte
          • Those we Lost
          • What are you like?
          • Wild Irish Women
          • Window on The Past
  • Home
  • Who We Are
    • About This Magazine
    • Irish America Team
  • In This Issue
  • Hall of Fame
  • The Lists
    • Business 100
    • Hall of Fame
    • Health and Life Sciences 50
    • Wall Street 50
  • Archives
    • Magazine
    • Highlights
  • Travel
  • Events

California’s First Irish Hunger Memorial

By Olivia O’Mahony, Editorial Assistant
October / November 2016

October 1, 2016 by 1 Comment

The community of Eugene, California welcomed the state’s first Irish Hunger Memorial at its dedication ceremony in Saint Joseph’s Cemetery in September. It was the product of efforts by the Irish Cultural Society of Stanislaus County and the San Francisco Chapter of the Irish American Unity Conference, and about 100 locals were present to see it unveiled.

The memorial’s location is a significant one – the first settlers in Eugene were a pair of Irishmen named Dillon and Dooley, who erected a change station for horses of the Kelly and Reynold stage line. When the settlement had reached its peak in 1870, James Nolan, another Irish immigrant, became its first postmaster. Nolan would go on to donate the land for Saint Joseph’s Church, which by the 1890s was the settlement’s final remaining building. It too was eventually torn down, leaving the cemetery grounds upon which the simplistic headstone and plaque of the Hunger Memorial now stand.

A view of California's first Irish Hunger Memorial.
A view of California’s first Irish Hunger Memorial. (Photo: Loretta McCarthy)

“When the Irish came to California, they were among the first pioneers,” said Philip Grant, Consul General of Ireland in San Francisco, at the unveiling event. “There were no cities to find themselves in the slums of. Instead, they built the cities.”

He added, “It is as important to have a Famine memorial in a small rural cemetery in the middle of the foothills in California as it is to have it in Boston, or New York, or New Orleans because this is a very important part of how a people found salvation, how a people found hope.” ♦

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Sean Curtain says

    January 25, 2018 at 10:23 am

    I first set foot in Calif. on Labor Day, 1962, when I way on my way to the U.S. navy base of Subic Bay in the Philippines. During the week I spent at Treasure Island, I attended a céili dance at the Red Branch Knights Hall. That hall had a huge portrait of Robert Emmet handing from the wall near the bar. On a later trip to San Francisco, I saw the statue of this great Irish patriot in a parking lot near the entrance to the Golden Gate Bridge.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Highlights

News
Articles and stories from Irish America.....
MORE

Hibernia
News from Ireland and happenings in Irish America.....
MORE

Those We Lost
Remembering some of the great Irish Americans who have passed.....
MORE

Slainte!
Discover Irish ancestry, predilections, and recipes.....
MORE

Photo Album
Irish America readers share the stories of their ancestors....
MORE

More Articles

  • <b>Hibernia: Honors</b>Hibernia: Honors
    Irish LGBT Rights Campaigner Honored In NYC A street in Queens, New York, has been named after B...
  • <b>Hibernia: News</b>Hibernia: News
    Dublin Second In Europe For Improving Air Quality Dublin has been named the second most improved...
  • <b>Hibernia: Sports</b>Hibernia: Sports
    Leona Maguire Is First Irish Golfer To Win The LPGA Leona Maguire has made history as the&nb...
  • <b>Hibernia: News From Ireland</b>Hibernia: News From Ireland
    Kerry Town Named Among Europe's Most Beautiful The scenic village of Kenmare, nestled on the...

Footer

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Subscribe

  • Subscribe
  • Give a Gift
  • Newsletter
  • Customer Service

Additional

  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Terms of Use & Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2022 · IrishAmerica Child Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in