The National Famine Museum Strokestown Park and the Irish Heritage Trust have launched the Famine Voices 2023 season with a new film, The Famine Irish in New Brunswick.
It tells the little-known story of the 16,000 emigrants who fled from famine-stricken Ireland in 1847 to the British North American colony (now Canadian province) of New Brunswick. Two thousand of them perished at quarantine stations such as Partridge Island (Saint John), Middle Island (Miramichi), and Hospital Island (Saint Andrews). The film pays tribute to them and the self-sacrifice of their caregivers, such as Dr James Patrick Collins who lost his life on Partridge Island, and Dr. John Vondy who died caring for Irish emigrants on Middle Island. It offers a rare glimpse of Partridge Island where six hundred Irish migrants lie buried on a site that has long been closed to the public.
Great Famine Voices 2023 is funded by the Government of Ireland Emigrant Support Programme.
Great Famine Voices 2023 Schedule
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