The drive to commemorate the Great Famine and the global legacy of Irish immigration is swelling to massive proportions. Along with the new Irish Immigration postage stamp launched both in Ireland and the U.S. this year, and the increasing number of Irish Famine Curriculum Bills appearing before state legislatures, monuments commemorating the Famine and the Irish Diaspora are … [Read more...] about Famine Commemorations Around the World
Famine
Hibernia: Famine Diary
Boston Irish Fight Today's Famines After building a $1 million memorial park last year to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Irish Famine, Boston's Irish community is turning its attention toward people suffering from contemporary famines throughout the world. A proposed Irish Famine Institute that blends social activism and academic research is currently in the … [Read more...] about Hibernia: Famine Diary
Phoenix Remembers the Great Hunger
The 2019 International Commemoration of the Great Irish Famine will take place in Phoenix, Arizona, on Sunday, November 3. Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and Chair of the National Famine Commemoration Committee, Josepha Madigan T.D., made the announcement in July. “This year’s commemoration represents an opportunity to not only recognize the work … [Read more...] about Phoenix Remembers the Great Hunger
In the Shoes of Refugees
Walking in the footsteps of 1,490 Irish exiled in 1847. In 2017, and again in 2019, I was honored to be part of a small group of five historians who were invited by Caroilin Callery of the Irish Heritage Trust to follow in the footsteps of 1,490 refugees from the Great Hunger. As a historian, I have researched and written extensively about the Famine since completing my Ph.D. … [Read more...] about In the Shoes of Refugees
The Un-Quiet Ghosts of the Carricks
Bones of Irish children were found 170 years after they died on a “coffin ship” en route to Canada in 1847. Vertebra and jaw bones were identified among the remains, believed to be of Irish children fleeing the Great Hunger, that were discovered in 2011 on Quebec’s Gaspé Peninsula, about 500 miles from Montreal, in Canada. Canadian scientists have concluded that the bones that … [Read more...] about The Un-Quiet Ghosts of the Carricks