Renowned Dublin-born artist Rowan Gillespie is expected in New York this week.

He may explore one of New York’s famous museums, discuss the latest trends in the art world at a fancy Manhattan dinner party, or even pay a visit to the Irish Famine memorial in downtown Manhattan.

After all, Gillespie himself has designed two of the world’s more famous memorials to Ireland’s dark past. His stark sculpture inspired by the Great Hunger is located outside the Custom House in Dublin, while another of his works has been placed in Toronto’s Ireland Park.

One thing we do know is that, while in New York this weekend, Gillespie will have a new sculpture on his mind.

Gillespie is a leading candidate to design a memorial to be placed in Staten Island commemorating Irish immigrants whose remains were recently discovered on the island’s north shore. They were uncovered a few years back while construction crews were digging at a site as part of a massive new courthouse complex.

This Saturday, October 17, after years of study, delay, tussle and debate, the remains are being returned to Staten Island. They had been stored away in a nondescript Brooklyn office.

According to Lynn Rogers, a driving force behind the movement to properly bury the remains, the Staten Island memorial and cemetery for the once-forgotten immigrants could be completed in two years.

This Saturday, a church service and celebration will be held on Staten Island to mark the return of the remains.

Scheduled to join Gillespie at this Saturday’s event are former New York Archbishop Edward Cardinal Egan, Irish Consul General Niall Burgess, Congressman Mike McMahon and many other elected officials, dignitaries and Irish Americans.

The event will begin with a memorial service at St. Peter’s church on Staten Island at 10 a.m. The remains will be brought into the church, reflecting Rogers’ and others’ desire to bury the remains with religious rites which they did not receive back in the 1850s.

A little history. The new Staten Island courthouse is being built on top of what had been a simple parking lot. However, 150 years ago, a quarantine station stood at the site.

At the height of the Irish Famine, countless Irish as well as German immigrants stayed at the station, became sick and were buried in unmarked graves.

Local anti-Irish nativists eventually burned the station to the ground. Infant as well as adult remains have been removed from the site, according to Lynn Rogers, executive director of Friends of Abandoned Cemeteries of Staten Island.

Rogers believes two of her own ancestors named Egan died at the quarantine station.

Following this Saturday’s church service, there will be a celebration at Staten Island’s Tappen Park. The event is free and open to the public. Andy Cooney as well as the Moonshiners are two of the musical acts who have donated their time for the event.

Since it is believed there were German immigrants at the quarantine site, the event is being billed as an “Irish-German celebration.” Think Hibernian

Oktoberfest.

Rogers said the event will be “like an old-fashioned wake.” By which she means, a celebration of heritage and of the fact that the remains of these immigrants are finally approaching the end of a long, harrowing journey.

In recent years, Friends of Abandoned Cemeteries as well as the Irish government, the Ancient Order of Hibernians, St. Columcille Irish Cultural Center, elected officials and others have been urging the State Dormitory Authority (SDA), which is overseeing construction at the site, to allow the remains to be properly interred.

There were disagreements, however, as to where the remains could go and who would pay for any memorial. The Staten Island Borough President’s office eventually allocated $500,000, which is expected to create a cemetery and memorial space for the remains.

According to Rogers, Gillespie will be attending the Saturday event and has expressed interest in designing the memorial.

As for Rogers, who has personal ties to the Irish immigrant remains, she is looking forward to this Saturday’s event and says she is “relieved” this journey is finally coming to an end.

(Contact Tom at [email protected].)