Tag Archives: Potatoe Famine

A friend once told me that good public art should capture your attention and “get you in the gut”.  That’s certainly true of the Famine statues on Custom House Quay in Dublin’s modernized Docklands.  These gaunt figures commemorate the Great Potato Famine of the mid-19th century (1845 – 1847), referred to as An Gorta Mór –“the great hunger”.   The location is historic as it was the site of the first voyage of the famine exodus on the ship Perseverance. The work is entitled “Famine” and was presented to the People of Ireland by Norma Smurfit in 1997.

During the great famine approximately 1 million Irish people died and a million more emigrated from Ireland, reducing the island’s population by about 25%. …

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