Great Irish Hunger memorials in America

A look at the memorials built which pay tribute to and honor the suffering and perseverance of the Irish during the Famine Years.

The second memorial is on a peninsula in Boston Harbor known as Deer Island and paints a somber picture of Famine victims. In 1847 Deer Island was the site of a Quarantine hospital and later in 1850 an almshouse was built. Many Famine victims tragically died there after their long journeys. The Rest Haven Cemetery here contains graves of hundreds who didn’t make it.

The Irish Famine Monument in Cambridge depicts the separation of families, showing a mother seated holding a small child and the father feet away holding another child. Each reaches out to the other on a stone platform on which is inscribed the phrase, “Never again should a people starve in a world of plenty.” The monument, located in the heart of the Cambridge Commons, just west of Harvard University was designed by Maurice Harrow and Derry Ireland, and was dedicated by President Mary Robinson in July of 1997.

Illinois

In Chicago’s Gaelic Park, the Irish Famine Memorial Monument stands near the park’s main building. Commissioned and paid for by Gaelic Park the giant statue depicts an Irish family, their home from which they were evicted burning behind them. Headstones in the background are emblematic of those whose lives were lost. On the opposite side of the burning home is an infamous “coffin ship,” the option many took to sail away from their homeland to North America, hundreds of whom eventually settled in Chicago. The memorial monument was designed by Fr. Anthony Brankin, a Chicago parish pastor.

Ohio

Commemorating the 150-year anniversary of the Famine, a monument in the form of a massive stone was erected in downtown Cleveland. The stone with images of a mother and two children at its base is engraved with the words, “Cleveland Remembers The Great Hunger.” A paragraph inscription tells of the depopulation in Ireland, the suffering of the Irish people as well as the way Cleveland’s culture was enriched by those who made their way from the Famine-torn shores to the American city.

New Jersey

On the courthouse lawn in Hackensack, New Jersey is a small stone with a plaque commemorating the Great Hunger. Surrounded by bushes and close by monuments which hold the memories of the Holocaust and the Armenian genocide, it is an understated monument, part of a series on the lawn which honors the sacrifice of many ethnicities and celebrates what their descendants have contributed to the northern New Jersey communities.

Connecticut

At Quinnipiac University’s library in Hamden, there is a Great Hunger room dedicated to literature, art and original documents from the time of the Famine. Located in the Lender Family Special Collection Room of the Arnold Bernhard Library, the collection explores the historical significance as well as the emotional relevance of the experiences of those who suffered. (See feature article in this issue.)

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