| |
Press
release
8 January 2009
2009
NATIONAL FAMINE MEMORIAL DAY TO BE HELD IN
SKIBBEREEN
Éamon
Ó Cuív, T.D., Minister for Community, Rural
and Gaeltacht Affairs, today outlined the
National Famine Commemoration Committee’s
plans for the National Famine Memorial Day 2009.
The Committee has agreed four main points for
this year’s commemoration:
-
It is proposed that the national event will take
place in Skibbereen, Co. Cork
-
The parallel international event will be held in Canada
-
That communities around the country should be
encouraged to hold their own local events to
commemorate the Great Famine, and
-
That all public and sporting events should
observe a minute’s silence on the National
Famine Memorial Day.
There
is nothing else in the history of the Irish
people that can be likened to the Great Famine,
either for its immediate impact, or its legacy
of emigration, cultural loss and decline of the
Irish language. The population of Ireland, which exceeded 8 million in the Census of
1841, was reduced by approximately 1.5 million
through death and emigration. In
recognition of the importance of the Great
Famine, the Government established a National
Famine Commemoration Committee, which is chaired
by Minister Ó Cuív, and the inaugural Famine
Memorial Day was held on 25 May 2008 in Dublin .
The
National Famine Commemoration Committee has now
agreed that the annual Famine Memorial Day
should revolve between the four provinces of
Ireland. It is proposed that Skibbereen, Co Cork, will be the venue for the 2009 event, to be
held on 17 May 2009. It is envisaged that the
2010 commemoration will take place in Co Mayo.
“The
Skibbereen area was one of the worst affected by
the Great Famine. The mass graves of between
8,000 and 10,000 famine victims at Abbeystrewery
near Skibbereen are testament to the tragic
consequences of the catastrophic failure of the
potato crop in the area during the 1840s. I look
forward to discussions taking place between my
Department and relevant stakeholders over the
coming weeks to make the necessary arrangements
to hold the 2009 National Memorial Day in
Skibbereen.”
-
Éamon Ó Cuív, T.D., Minister for Community,
Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.
The
Great Famine also resulted in a
disproportionately strong representation of the
Irish among the nations formed through
emigration in the later 19th and early 20th
centuries. These diaspora communities - the
Irish abroad - still demonstrate a significant
affinity with their migrant predecessors of the
Famine. Against this background, it was decided
that an overseas commemoration should be held in
parallel with the National Memorial Day in
Ireland. The 2009 event will be held on 10 May next in Canada, which became the new home of thousands of
dispirited people who were ravaged by hunger and
disease arising from the Famine.
Although
the majority of the Canadian Irish arrived well
before the Famine, some 250,000 arrived between
1845 and 1855. 1847 was the high watermark
as close to 110,000 immigrants, most of whom
were Irish famine refugees, made their way to Canada. Some 4 million Canadians (12.5% of the
population) claim Irish heritage today and Irish
communities can be found across the country.
2009 sees the 100th anniversary of the erection
of a massive Celtic Cross, over forty feet high,
which commemorates the 7,000 Irish men, women,
and children who are buried on Grosse
Ile near Quebec City. The island
Grosse Ile
was a quarantine station, and became known by
locals as ‘L’Ile des Irlandais’ - the
Island
of the Irish.
Minister
Ó Cuív expressed his gratitude to the members
of the National Famine Commemoration Committee
for their commitment in ensuring that the
catastrophic events of the Great Famine are
appropriately remembered and that the
extraordinary contributions of those who
emigrated, and of their many descendents abroad,
are justly celebrated.
Issued
by the Press & Information Office at the
Dept. of Community, Rural & Gaeltacht
Affairs
Tel/Teil:
01 647 3130 Fax/Facs: 01 667 0826
Layla de Cogan Chin 087 6842755
Email
/ Ríomhphost: eolas@pobail.ie
Web/Gréasán:
www.pobail.ie
|
