The Irish Hunger Memorial is a park at the corner of

Vesey Street Vesey Street ( ) is a street in New York City that runs east-west in Lower Manhattan. The street is named after Rev. William Vesey (1674-1746), the first rector of nearby Trinity Church. History The intersection of Vesey and West Streets wa ...

and North End Avenue in the

Battery Park City Battery Park City is a mainly residential planned community and neighborhood on the west side of the southern tip of the island of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by the Hudson River on the west, the Hudson River shoreline on the north ...

neighborhood of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of counties in New York, origin ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. The memorial is dedicated to raising awareness of the Great Irish Hunger, referred to as ''An Gorta Mór'' in

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

, in which over one million starved to death between 1845 and 1852. In the decade after 1845, over 900,000 Irish emigrants entered the port of New York so that by 1855 Irish-born New Yorkers comprised almost one third of the city's population. Construction of the memorial began in March 2001, and despite the September 11 attacks on the nearby

World Trade Center World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may refer to: Buildings * List of World Trade Centers * World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...

, which also affected surrounding areas, the memorial was completed and dedicated on July 16, 2002. The memorial, designed collaboratively by artist Brian Tolle,

landscape architect A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water manageme ...

Gail Wittwer-Laird, and architecture firm 1100 Architect, is landscaped with stones, soil, and native vegetation transported from the western coast of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

— with stones from every

Irish county The counties of Ireland ( Irish: ) are historic administrative divisions of the island into thirty-two units. They began as Norman structures, and as the powers exercised by the Cambro-Norman barons and the Old English nobility waned over time ...

. An authentic Irish cottage from 19th century Carradoogan, in the parish of Attymass,

County Mayo County Mayo (; ga, Contae Mhaigh Eo, meaning "Plain of the yew trees") is a county in Ireland. In the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, it is named after the village of Mayo, now generally known as Mayo Abbey. Mayo County Counci ...

, belonged to the Slack family — and was deserted in the 1960s. The Slack family donated the cottage to the memorial in "memory of all the Slack family members of previous generations who emigrated to America and fared well there." In August 2016, the memorial was temporarily closed for waterproofing work and was reopened in August 2017.

Gallery

HungerMemorialNumber3.jpg, North side, showing gradual rise of the structure HungerMemorial9.jpg, West side, showing the high end HungerMemorialNumber5.JPG, Stones placed on the roof with names of the Irish counties NYCIrishFamineMemorialPassageway060709.JPG, Passageway connecting the west side to the ruined stone cottage and the roof Irish Hunger Memorial-NYC-2012.jpg, Interior of cottage ruins

References

External links

*
Architectural Record Magazine
''Between Two Worlds: Remembering the Hungry'' By Roger Shepherd

Hunger for Memorials: Article from ''Landscape Architecture'', March 2003

Photo Tour of Irish Hunger Memorial

Tourist Information Site
Irish Hunger Memorial brochure
{{DEFAULTSORT:Irish Hunger Memorial 2002 sculptures Battery Park City Irish-American culture in New York City Great Famine (Ireland) monuments and memorials Land art Monuments and memorials in Manhattan Tourist attractions in Manhattan

Gallery

See also

References

External links