Irish America

Irish America

Famine Graves

Beyond the Veil

By Therese Lanigan-Schmidt

May/June 1997

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A descendant of Famine immigrants recounts her trip home. It was our first trip to Ireland. And it was a trip my mother, Mary Lanigan Schmidt, always yearned to make, but never did. Now dead these 12 years, she left behind so much, including her First Communion veil from 1926, now yellow with age. I took two snippets of the delicate lace and brought them with me, a part of … [Read more...] about Beyond the Veil

The Last Word: Forget Me Not

By Charles E. Orser Jr., the curator of Historical Archaeology, New York State Museum, Albany and Adjunct Professor, National University of Ireland, Galway.
June / July 2010

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Archaeology sites expose hidden history of the Famine The Famine rests within Irish memory on many levels and is told with diverse voices. With each passing year, as the stories of those terrible years recede further into history, the Famine becomes slightly more intangible, less real to our modern minds. The archaeology of the Famine challenges our views on that awful … [Read more...] about The Last Word: Forget Me Not