The Great Famine of Ireland is memorialized in many locations throughout Ireland, especially in those regions that suffered the greatest losses, and also in cities overseas with large populations descended from Irish immigrants. To date more than 100 memorials to the Irish Famine have been constructed worldwide.
Republic of Ireland
County Clare Ennistymon: This was the first memorial in Ireland to honour those who suffered and were lost during the Great Famine. It is erected across the road from Ennistymon Hospital, built on the grounds of the local workhouse where an estimated 20,000 Irish died and a mass graveyard for children who perished and were buried without coffins. Tuamgraney famine graveyard memorial at St. Cronan's Church, Tuamgraney County Cork Midleton: the Kindred Spirits sculpture County Donegal Doagh Island, Inishowen: Doagh Visitor Centre and Famine Museum has exhibits and memorial on the effects of the famine in Inishowen, Donegal. County Dublin Customs House Quays: Famine Memorial (Dublin) Painfully thin sculptural figures, by artist Rowan Gillespie, stand as if walking towards the emigration ships on the Dublin Quayside. St Stephen's Green, Dublin. "Famine", a sculpture by Edward Delaney. County Galway Ballinasloe: Famine Remembrance Park, Cleaghmore, Ballinasloe Galway: Galway Famine Ship Memorial, Celia Griffin Memorial Park, Salthill, Galway. County Kilkenny Kilkenny in the McDonagh Junction complex. The memorial is marked by a small garden, where many bodies were found during an excavation of the Kilkenny Union Workhouse. County Laois Donaghmore: Famine Museum - set in Donaghmore Workhouse. Timahoe: Famine Memorial - Dedicated in 2020. It is adjacent to the Timahoe Round Tower at the Timahoe Cultural Center. Originally a bowl used by a woolen mill to colour cloth, then it was used as a soup bowl, then a cattle drinking trough, and now a symbol to the famine. Some landlords actually helped and would make pots of soup for those that were hungry. It was a gruel soup made from Indian meal, believed to be donated by American Indian Tribes.
County Limerick Kilmallock: A Famine Memorial Park marks the graves of those who died in the nearby workhouse and were buried in unmarked graves. Limerick city: The 'Broken Heart' Famine memorial by Maria Pizzuti, Lower Mallow Street. The sculpture, created in 1997, is a fountain in the shape of a broken heart in memory of the forced emigration of several thousands who fled to America and beyond from nearby Steamboat Quay. Also in Limerick city, the Pauper's Graveyard (now known as St Brigid's cemetery) in Killeely. Here a large timber cross was erected on the site of this mass graveyard. There are no headstones. Newcastle West: The Famine Graveyard is at the rear of modern-day St. Ita's Hospital. Hundreds of people who died during the famine are buried there in unmarked graves. The cemetery is marked by a plain old cross. Close by stands the Workhouse. County Mayo Doo Lough: A memorial commemorates famine victims of the Doolough Tragedy who walked from Louisburgh along the mountain road to Delphi Lodge to seek relief from the Poor Board who were meeting there. Returning after their request was refused, many of them died at this point. Murrisk: National Famine Memorial. This sculpture of a famine ship, by sculptor John Behan near the foot of Croagh Patrick, depicts the refugees as dead souls, or skeleton bodies in the rigging. County Meath Kells, County Meath: paupers' graveyard memorial by the Spire of Lloyd. County Monaghan Clones: Famine Graveyard. Clones hosted the National Famine Commemoration for 2011 with President Mary McAleese and other representatives from 30 Countries also taking part. County Roscommon National Famine Museum at Strokestown Park County Sligo Sligo: three memorial sculptures erected by the Sligo Famine Commemoration Committee. One is at the quayside, of a family comforting each other, where 30,000 people emigrated between 1847 and 1851. The other two are the gates of a famine graveyard and of a tree (called Faoin Sceach) in the grounds of the graveyard, where approximately 2,000 famine victims are buried.
County Tipperary Ballingarry: Famine Warhouse 1848. Widow McCormack's house, the site of the 1848 rebellion, has now been converted into a museum. Thurles: Famine Museum occupies St. Mary's church in Thurles. St. Mary's church is built on the site of another pre-reformation church dating to the 12th century. This site includes both war and Irish Famine memorials. County Westmeath Mullingar: the Famine Memorial Fountain stands on Oliver Plunkett Street in the town. County Wicklow Ballyhogue Famine Wall, Ballyhogue, Bree
United Kingdom
Cardiff, Wales. A Celtic Cross made of Irish limestone on a base of Welsh stone stands in the city's Cathays Cemetery. The cross was unveiled in 1999 as the high point in the work of the Wales Famine Forum, marking the 150th anniversary of the famine. The memorial is dedicated to every person of Irish origin, without distinction on grounds of class, politics, allegiance or religious belief, who has died in Wales. Carfin, Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. A Celtic Cross memorial unveiled by then Taoiseach Bertie Ahern in the early 21st century. Craigavon, Northern Ireland. A tree sculpture at Tannaghmore Gardens commemorates the famine. Glasgow, Scotland. A memorial to the Irish and Highland famines was unveiled in Glasgow in 2018. The memorial is located beside the People's Palace at Glasgow Green. In 2009, 2010, and on 11 May 2014 to mark the National Famine Commemoration Day, Celtic FC wore a commemorative emblem on their strips, which consists of a Celtic cross and a four leaf clover motif. This reflects that Celtic themselves were founded by, and in order to support, the Irish immigrant community in the east end of Glasgow, many of whom had fled Ireland for Glasgow following the famine. Liverpool, England. A memorial is in the grounds of St Luke's Church on Leece Street, itself a memorial to the victims of the Blitz. It recalls that from 1849 to 1852 1,241,410 Irish immigrants arrived in Liverpool, and from there they dispersed to locations around the world. Many died despite the help they received within the city: some 7000 in the city perished within one year. The memorial was funded by public subscription, with many small donations from local communities, contributions from the British and Irish governments, each of the Merseyside local councils, Dublin and Dun Laoghaire councils and many others. The sculpture was created by Eamonn O'Docherty. The Liverpool Great Hunger Commemoration Committee also erected ten plaques around the city, including one on the gates to Clarence Dock. Unveiled in 2000, the plaque inscription reads in Irish and English: "Through these gates passed most of the 1,300,000 Irish migrants who fled from the Great Famine and 'took the ship' to Liverpool in the years 1845–52" The Maritime Museum, Albert Dock, Liverpool has an exhibition regarding the Irish Migration, showing models of ships, documentation and other facts on Liverpool's history.
United States
Ardsley, New York: the V. E. Macy Great Hunger Memorial in Ardsley contains a sculpture by Eamonn O'Doherty as a memorial to the suffering of the Irish during the famine. Boston, Massachusetts: the Boston Irish Famine Memorial features a bronze statue located at the corner of Washington and School streets on the Freedom Trail. It depicts a starving woman, looking up to the heavens as if to ask "Why?", while her children cling to her. A second sculpture shows the figures hopeful as they land in Boston. Buffalo, New York: a stone memorial on its waterfront. Cambridge, Massachusetts: the Irish Famine Memorial is located at Cambridge Common Chicago, Illinois: there is a Famine Memorial at Chicago Gaelic Park. Cleveland, Ohio: A stone Celtic cross, located in Heritage Park on the east bank of the Cuyahoga River. Deer Island, Massachusetts: Great Hunger Memorial consisting of a 16 foot tall Irish cross. Fairfield, Connecticut: a memorial to the Famine victims stands in the chapel of Fairfield University. Hackensack, New Jersey: there is a large stone monument located on the front corner of the Bergen County Government Court House on Main Street, honoring all of those who perished in the famine. Every year in October, numerous Irish-American organizations from northern New Jersey hold a ceremony to remember all of those who perished. Hamden, Connecticut: there is a collection of art and literature from the Great Famine is on display in the Lender Family Special Collection Room of the Arnold Bernhard Library at Quinnipiac University. Irish Hills, Michigan: An Gorta Mor Memorial is located on the grounds of St. Joseph's Shrine in the Irish Hills district of Lenawee County, Michigan. There are thirty-two black stones as the platform, one for each county. The grounds are surrounded with a stone wall. The Lintel is a step from Penrose Quay in Cork Harbour. The project was the result of several years of fundraising by The Ancient Order of Hibernian's in Lenawee County. It was dedicated in 2004 by AOH St. Patrick's Division. Keansburg, NJ: there is a Hunger Memorial in Friendship Park on Main Street. New Orleans, Louisiana: has a plaque to the memory of the Great Famine on the monument for the New Basin Canal. New York, New York: the Irish Hunger Memorial is located in Battery Park City, a short walk west from the World Trade Center site. It looks like a sloping hillside with low stone walls and a roofless cabin on one side and a polished wall with lit (or white) lines on the other three sides. See . Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: The National Memorial to An Gorta Mór is located on a site at Front and Chestnut Streets, near Penn's Landing, and close to the site of Washington Avenue Immigration Station, where many Irish disembarked into America. The large bronze sculpture, by artist Glenna Goodacre features numerous figures arranged in clusters or vignettes, with the east end depicting the misery of the starvation in Ireland. The monument was dedicated on October 25, 2003. Phoenix, Arizona: there is a memorial in the form of a dolmen at the Irish Cultural Center. Portland, Oregon: the Oregon Irish Famine Memorial is a large Celtic cross carved in Donegal, Ireland, by Donegal born sculptor Brendan Mc Gloin. This 14 ft tall sandstone cross was hand carved in three sections over a two and a half year period. It followed the same passage as emigrants would have road, boat, then rail, and finally road. It is a complete copy of the Cross of the scriptures Clonmacnoise Ireland a 6th-9th Century cross. Some say a sister cross, it is so true to the original. It is positioned on a prominent hill in the city in 2008, with Irish President Mary McAleese present at the unveiling. Providence, Rhode Island: an Irish Famine Memorial is situated along the Riverway, . Sculpture and a commemorative wall are the key elements of an impressive memorial that has educated and beautified the Providence River Walk location. A bronze statue of three Irish figures anchors one end of the site, with a walkway incorporating memorial bricks and flagstones leading to the memorial wall. There, a narrative plaque tells the story of the Great Famine and subsequent Irish emigration to the United States in bas relief. Memorial bricks and flagstones border an outline map depicting the two countries, Ireland and America. Twelve memorial benches along the walkway offer points at which to reflect on the stories and memories described in the relief wall and expressed within the numerous inscriptions.