Most Americans have at least heard of Ireland’s “Potato Famine” during which one million died of hunger and related diseases and another million fled Ireland for the United States, Canada, England, Scotland, Australia, and Continental Europe in one of the most massive depopulations in European history. The Famine lasted from 1845 until 1852. Over the years from 1852 to 1855, another one million refugees left Ireland. When the Famine hit, Ireland had a population of 8.5 million. After the Famine and the resulting migration, Ireland only had 4.4 million inhabitants by 1901.
Dublin has a very moving memorial to the men, women, and children who died or left Ireland during these hard times. Unlike here in the United States where the catastrophe is called the Potato Famine, in Ireland it is The Great Hunger, or “an Gorta Mor” in Irish. While there was tremendous loss of life during these years, many survivors came to America and participated in the American Civil War.
The memorial was created by sculptor Rowan Gillespie and unveiled in 1997, There are six refugees from the countryside who walked all the way to Dublin and are inching along the docks next to the Liffey River. It is a few feet from the Talbot Memorial Bridge. There is no charge to visit it and it is open 24 hours a day.
There are several sites nearby, including EPIC which tells the story of Irish immigrants and a rebuilt Irish Famine Ship used to bring people across the Atlantic.
While this memorial is primarily a piece of art, there are also several panels that tell the story of the catastrophe.
While the memorial recalls all the hundreds of thousands of refugees that sought to leave Ireland during the Great Hunger, it also tells the story of 1,490 tenant farmers who were thrown off their land when they could not pay their rent on the Mahon Estate and waled one hundred miles to Dublin.
The monument was unveiled during the 150th Anniversary of the Famine. The figures of six refugees show them asĀ coming together but coming alone. They have experienced the death of their families and they no longer have the reassurance of relatives. The faces show the trauma of the victims watching their husband, wives, and children die in the countryside. They have lost their farms and crops, and their whole way of life. After a hundred mile walk they are tired and starving. They hope they can get on a boat, but even if they get transport, nearly a third will die at sea or immediately after landing.
The statues show the refugees carrying something, a package, blankets, a child. Everything they had was what they carried. What they could not carry would never been seen again.
The is also a panel pointing out the National Famine Way, a trail that you can walk in about four days to follow a common refugee route.
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