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Famine

Honouring Indigenous Aid: Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee & Huron-Wendat Irish Famine Aid

IA Newsletter May 25, 2024

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The Irish Heritage Trust has released a film entitled Honouring Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee & Huron-Wendat Irish Famine Aid to mark Ireland’s National Famine Commemoration Day. The film pays tribute to the Indigenous peoples in Canada West (now Ontario) who contributed to Irish Famine relief in 1847. Based on newly discovered archival records, it tells the story of their … [Read more...] about Honouring Indigenous Aid: Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee & Huron-Wendat Irish Famine Aid

The Ghosts of Gross Ile

By Aliah O'Neill
June / July 2010

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One of the major ports of entry for Irish Famine immigrants, Grosse Île lies in the St. Lawrence River, just east of Quebec. It contains the largest Famine cemetery outside of Ireland. When the authorities in Quebec heard news of ships arriving with sick passengers, they quickly set up Grosse Île as a port of entry and quarantine station at which all ships were required to … [Read more...] about The Ghosts of Gross Ile

Grosse Ile: Island of Sorrows

By Marianne O'Gallagher
Irish America’s April 1991 Magazine

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The name Grosse Ile (Big Island) is almost a generic term on the map of North America, it appears in so many places. But there is one island by that name that far outstrips the others for the drama and pathos that took place on its shores.  Grosse Ile in the Saint Lawrence River near Quebec City is the spot sometimes called "The Island Graveyard," or "L'Ile des Irlandais" (The … [Read more...] about Grosse Ile: Island of Sorrows

Why Famine Came To Ireland


By Thomas Cahill

January 2000

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Thomas Cahill writes on the great catastrophe that became known as the Famine. The mass exodus of people during and following this period would forever change the course of Irish and American history.The potato blight that arrived in Europe in the summer of 1845 was, like the potato itself, an American export. The fungus that caused the blight was a microscopic organism that … [Read more...] about Why Famine Came To Ireland

Famine Commemorations Around the World

January 2000

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The drive to commemorate the Great Famine and the global legacy of Irish immigration is swelling to massive proportions. Along with the new Irish Immigration postage stamp launched both in Ireland and the U.S. this year, and the increasing number of Irish Famine Curriculum Bills appearing before state legislatures, monuments commemorating the Famine and the Irish Diaspora are … [Read more...] about Famine Commemorations Around the World