In recognition of National Famine Memorial Day, Ireland Reaching Out (IrelandXO), in partnership with Alison Education, has announced the launch of The Great Irish Famine: History, Diaspora, and Global Legacy, a free online course designed to make the history of An Gorta Mór / The Great Hunger accessible to learners in the United States, Ireland, and across the global Irish diaspora.
“This initiative allows people everywhere to engage more deeply with one of the most important chapters in Irish history,” said a spokesperson for IrelandXO.
“National Famine Memorial Day is a time of remembrance, but it is also an opportunity to ensure future generations understand the human stories, resilience, migration, and legacy that emerged from this tragic period.”
The new course offers adult learners, students, educators, local historians, genealogists, and heritage organizations a clear and engaging introduction to the causes, experiences, consequences, and legacy of the Famine. It explores the crisis through history, migration, public memory, art, burial sites, charity, political response, and the rebuilding of Irish communities abroad.
The course was developed by Loretto Leary and Dr. Elizabeth Stack, two respected voices in Irish and Irish American public history.
Leary, a native of Portumna, County Galway, is the Education and Cultural Director of Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum of Fairfield, Connecticut, and serves as Co-Chair of the Connecticut-Ireland Trade Commission.
Dr. Stack, originally from Listowel, County Kerry, is a historian and the Education Director at the Celtic Junction Arts Center in Minneapolis-St. Paul. She is also a member of the Historical Advisory Committee of Irish America 250 and was recently named the 2026 Kerry Person of the Year by the Kerry Association of New York.
Together, Leary and Stack bring Irish history, public education, diaspora studies, and community engagement into a course designed for learners at all levels.
“The history of the Irish Famine holds lessons that deserve continued attention,” said Leary.
“This course allows learners to engage with the past in a balanced and meaningful way, while also understanding how the Great Hunger shaped migration, memory, identity, and communities across the world.”
Dr. Stack emphasized the importance of making serious historical scholarship available beyond traditional academic settings.
“I am very proud to launch this comprehensive curriculum, which brings the profound history of the Great Hunger to a global audience,” said Dr. Stack.
“By partnering with Alison, we have created an accessible, deeply researched resource that honors the memory of those who suffered while connecting their legacy of resilience directly to the global Irish diaspora today.”
More than 70 million people worldwide claim Irish heritage, and many trace their family stories to the Famine period and the waves of emigration that followed. The course helps learners connect personal and family history to the wider historical forces that reshaped Ireland and the Irish diaspora.
Topics include pre-Famine Ireland, potato blight, British government policy, workhouses, landlords and tenants, evictions, rebellion, emigration, charity, death, burial, and collective memory. The course also introduces learners to online archives, historical documents, artwork, podcasts, videos, scholarly resources, and public memorials.
“This curriculum marks a vital step forward in making Irish history accessible to everyone, everywhere,” Stack said.
“Collaborating on this project allows us to bridge the past with the present, providing learners worldwide with the tools to understand the Great Hunger’s enduring impact on global migration, identity, and community.”
For Leary, the course is especially meaningful for an Irish diaspora seeking to better understand the history behind their own family stories.
“For the descendants of Irish Famine immigrants, this history often feels personal,” Leary added. “It lives in family stories, migration records, burial grounds, local parishes, and the communities our ancestors built. This course offers a starting point and a path to deeper understanding.”
IrelandXO described the course as both an act of remembrance and an educational resource for future generations.
Delivered through Alison’s global online learning platform, the course is free and available to anyone with internet access. Alison currently serves more than 50 million registered learners across 193 countries and offers thousands of free online courses in professional, academic, and personal development fields.
The partnership between IrelandXO and Alison reflects a growing effort to use digital education to preserve Irish history, strengthen diaspora engagement, and encourage deeper public understanding of the Great Hunger and its global consequences.
IrelandXO began as a diaspora engagement initiative dedicated to reconnecting people of Irish descent with their ancestral communities throughout Ireland. Through this new course, IrelandXO and Alison aim to ensure that the history and lessons of the Great Hunger remain accessible, relevant, and meaningful for generations to come.
This article was submitted to the IrishCentral contributors network by a member of the global Irish community. To become an IrishCentral contributor click here.