The National Famine Museum at Strokestown Park and the Irish Heritage Trust are launching the Great Famine Voices Roadshow 2020 “Famine Heroes” virtual events season of documentaries and online lectures on April 19th. These “Famine Heroes” virtual events provide uplifting stories about coping with epidemic and pay tribute to caregivers, both in the mid-nineteenth century and today. They are funded by the Government of Ireland Emigrant Support Program. Great Famine Voices Roadshow 2020 “Famine Heroes” will release on the following dates on the great Famine Voices website: www.greatfaminevoices.ie/famine-heroes/
April 19
Ireland’s Great Hunger and the Irish Diaspora (Christine Kinealy and Rebecca Abbott)
Ireland’s Great Hunger and the Irish Diaspora explores the historical and socio-political circumstances leading to potato failure, mass starvation and death in Ireland, 1847-52. Narrated by actor Gabriel Byrne, the film includes famine scholars, descendants of famine survivors, emigrants to Quebec, and “Earl Grey” orphan women who emigrated to Australia.
April 26
The Famine Irish and Canada’s First Responders (Kevin Moynihan, Mark McGowan, Christine Kinealy)
A Documentary exploring Canada’s compassion in welcoming the 109,000 Irish emigrants fleeing the Great Famine in 1847. This film visits Grosse Ile, Montreal and Toronto to understand how the memorials to the Irish Famine help to tell the story of courage and compassion on the part of Canada’s First Responders
May 2
The Famine Irish in Liverpool Digital Symposium hosted by the Institute of Irish Studies at the University of Liverpool
Short documentaries, online lectures, and online discussion about the Famine Irish in Liverpool by Professor Christine Kinealy and Professor Rebecca Abbott (Quinnipiac University), Professor John Belchem (University of Liverpool), Greg Quiery and Roger Appleton (Liverpool Great Hunger Commemoration Committee), and Liverpool Family Ties: The Irish Connection, a documentary produced by the Liverpool Irish Festival that asks interviewees to consider their heritage, Irish migration and lived-experience of Liverpool.
https://www.liverpoolirishfestival.com/events/gfvr/
May 10
The Famine Irish Legacy in Buffalo (William Jenkins)
An online lecture about the legacy of the Famine Irish in Buffalo by Professor William Jenkins (York University, Toronto)
May 17
Following in the Footsteps of Strokestown’s Missing 1,490 Famine Emigrants from Roscommon to Niagara (Mark McGowan)
A documentary presented by Professor Mark McGowan who follows in the footsteps of emigrants from the Strokestown Park House estate of Major Denis Mahon, now home of the National Famine Museum, who were forced to emigrate in 1847. He follows in their footsteps along the National Famine Way walking trail on the banks of the Royal Canal to Dublin, and then on to Grosse Île and the Irish Memorial National Historic Site and the Niagara region in Canada.
May 24
Charity and the Great Hunger on National Famine Commemoration Day: The Story of Donegal (Christine Kinealy and Rebecca Abbott).
An online lecture by Professor Christine Kinealy on Charity and the Great Hunger in Donegal followed by an online public discussion for the National Famine Commemoration Day scheduled to be held in Buncrana, County Donegal.
May 31
The Famine Irish and Indigenous Peoples: The Story of the Choctaw Gift (Christine Kinealy, Rebecca Abbott, LeAnne Howe, Padraig Kirwan)
A short documentary about the Choctaw donation for Irish Famine relief in 1847 shortly after the Choctaw people themselves were expelled from their traditional homelands and forced to embark on the Trail of Tears to Oklahoma. Professor Christine Kinealy (Quinnipiac University), Professor LeAnne Howe (University of Georgia and member of the Choctaw Nation), and Dr Padraig Kirwan (Goldsmiths, University of London) tell this riveting story of compassion, indigenous cultural values of giving, reciprocity, and expressions of native sovereignty.
For queries, or if you would like to contribute a family memory or story online, contact Dr Jason King at the Irish Heritage Trust: [email protected]
