Blog: "Ireland: The National Famine Memorial"

Two summer's ago my family and I decided it was time to "visit the Motherland", so we took a two-week trip to Ireland. On one day of our trip, my sister, my dad and I decided to hike up Croagh Patrick Mountain (picture above) located in County Mayo. As we hiked up this legendary mountain made up of loose and jagged stones, my mom decided to explore the countryside from a sea-level perspective. Along the shore of the nearby bay, she discovered a memorial that took her on her own journey through the legends and history of Ireland

The monument she discovered was the National Famine Memorial in County Mayo. The memorial was dedicated to the victims of the “Irish Potato Famine” or the “Great Famine” as it is called in Ireland. The famine occurred between the years of 1845 and 1852 and it was caused by a potato blight that destroyed the potato crop, which was the main food source for the impoverished Irish people. The famine caused the death of over 1 million Irish people and led to the emigration of 1 million more.  There are memorials such as the one pictured above all across Ireland commemorating the historic disaster. Each structure tells an interesting piece of the story of the famine through rhetoric. Focusing on the memorial I saw personally, I would like to discuss how the structure coveys a story from far away, close up, and through its overall composition.

From far away the memorial looks like an old, dark ship, facing towards the bay. It tells a story of travel, and more importantly, its angle away from the land tells a story of emigration. The ship is in poor condition; it is dingy, dark and lacking sails. However, the masts supporting the sails remain, and look like crosses found above a grave. Dark waves appear to be rolling along the sides of the ship indicating a rough journey. The story of the sculpture is enticing, and draws observers in to examine it more closely.

Reaching the sculpture, its message is received like a mordant surprise and the entire story can now be interpreted. The dark waves are really skeletons of famine victims.  Their boney remains are woven together to construct the ship, just as their death’s weave into the history of Ireland’s struggle.  Their bodies are contoured in the shape of waves and they look as though they are trying to jump off of the ship and into the turbulent sea. Their emigration was an escape from certain death to a less certain death.  Many of the emigrants knew that they may not make it to America, but they were willing to risk the dangerous journey to avoid a certain death by staying on the starving island.

Finally, the overall composition features a dark color scheme and a jagged ship created from the starved bones of the famine’s victims. The skeletons add a cryptic hue to the already grim composition. The memorial itself is constructed from a hard, cold metal and stands out like an eerie grave amidst the lush green harbor.

The Great Famine is a major part of the Irish heritage and a source of immense sadness.  Ireland lost close to 25% of its population in the Great Famine and this monument conveys a story of a struggle up to the point of death for the Irish people.  This ship looms over the harbor as a memorial for the million who died on the island from the famine, and the million more Ireland lost through emigration as a means of escape.