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 ew hundred feet from the Talbot Memorial Bridge. There is no charge to visit it and it is open 24 hours a day.
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