From Strokestown to London

In From Strokestown to London, acclaimed poet and performance artist Cherry Smyth counterpoints her impressions of female Famine Irish immigrants in London in the 1840s with her recollections of visiting the National Famine Museum, Strokestown Park, which helped inspire her to create Famished (Pindrop Press, 2019). She brings viewers on an evocative and spell-binding journey from famine-stricken rural Ireland to the heart of the British Empire at the height of the Great Hunger. The film weaves together candid reflections, evocative verse, traditional lyrics, and recovered voices from the 1840s which convey and interlayer the plight of women with the fate of Famine migrants such as the 1,490 from Strokestown who crossed the Atlantic on “coffin ships”. Smyth collaborates with composer Ed Bennett, vocalist Lauren Kinsella for the performance, and filmmaker Louise Boer.  

 

From Strokestown to London is hosted by the National Famine Museum, Strokestown Park, and Irish Heritage Trust as part of the Great Famine Voices 2023 season, funded by the Government of Ireland Emigrant Support Programme.