Commemoration
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The Australian Monument to the Great Irish Famine
The Australian Monument to the Great Irish Famine is located on the southern perimeter wall at Hyde Park Barracks in Sydney. It is not only a memorial to the Great Famine, but also to the Irish orphan girls, incorporating a glass wall etched with the names of 400 of the girls, including 14 Mayo orphan girls: Catherine Cain, Maria Carney, Mary Cogan, Ann Duke, Catherine Durkan, Rose Anne Gaughan, Mary Goff, Mary Haggerty, Sarah Jennings, Catherine Joyce, Julia Loftus, Honora Mugan, Ellen Vaughan, Mary O'Hara A commemorative event is held at the monument every August. In March 2015 a group of descendants of the Irish orphan girls, along with Committee members, participated in the St Patrick's Day Parade in Sydney. More details can be found on the Great Irish Famine Commemoration Memorial Facebook page. |
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Melbourne Famine Monument – ‘Famine Rock’
The Melbourne Famine Monument, 'Famine Rock', is located at Williamstown on Hobson's Bay, and commemorates all the Irish immigrants who arrived in Melbourne. It was unveiled in 1998, on the 150th anniversary of the arrival of 191 Irish orphan girls on the ship the Lady Kennaway, 25 of whom were Mayo orphan girls. In 2013 an additional marker was unveiled as part of the Hobson's Bay Coastal Trail. A commemoration event is held at the site every November. |
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Ballyshannon, Co Donegal - Famine Orphan Memorial
The only known memorial in Ireland to the Irish orphan girls is located at Ballyshannon Workhouse in County Donegal. Unveiled in September 2014, the memorial remembers the 19 girls from Donegal, Leitrim and Fermanagh who were sent from Ballyshannon Workhouse to Sydney in 1848 on board the Inchinnan. A Famine pot, once used in Ballyshannon Workhouse, is at the centre of the memorial, and is surrounded by a small stone wall interspersed with the names of the 19 girls. From the memorial, visitors can clearly see the windows of the girls' dormitory of the adjacent workhouse, where the orphan girls were once housed. |
Images: Author
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© Barbara Barclay (2015)
