Ireland: National Famine Commemoration 2018

This year’s National Famine Commemoration will take place on Saturday, 12thMay 2018 in University College Cork.  The event will be hosted by University College Cork in collaboration with Cork City Council. The focal point of the 2018 commemoration will be the launch of The Great Irish Famine Online. A replica mud cabin - An Bothán -  has been built on the grounds of University College Cork as part of the National Famine Commemoration event. The hut was built by the buildings and estates staff at UCC and will remain in place for a number of months following Saturday's Commemoration.

The annual National Famine Commemoration is an important event that remembers the one million people who perished, and the one million who were forced to emigrate as a result of the famine. The British government's (who then ruled Ireland) response to this catastrophic period of Irish history continues to be highlighted. Between 1845 and 1852 the Great Famine (Irish: an Gorta Mór) or the Great Hunger was a period of mass starvation, disease, and emigration in Ireland. Yet the export of food crops and livestock from Ireland continued over that period.

Image from RTÉ: An Bothán - built on the grounds of University College Cork as part of the National Famine Commemoration.