Thursday 19 July 2012

Irish famine museum to open in Connecticut

A museum dedicated to the Irish famine is to open at Quinnipiac University, in Hampden, Connecticut on 28 September.

Making the announcement, University President John L Lahey said: 'Museam An Ghorta Mór: Ireland's Great Hunger Museum is home to the world's largest collection of visual art, artifacts and printed materials relating to the starvation and forced emigration that occurred throughout Ireland from 1845 to 1852.'

The museum intends the collection to 'stimulate reflection, inspire imagination and advance awareness of Ireland's Great Hunger and its long afterlife on both sides of the Atlantic'.

Works by contemporary Irish artists will be featured at the museum as well as several important 19th and 20th‐century works by noted artists.

Museum programs, including tours of the collection, discussions, films, plays and concerts, are planned to educate the general public, academics, researchers, artists and students about the richness of Irish culture and the high quality of its visual arts in particular.

Quinnipiac University holds Kilkenny Workhouse Minutes for the years 1845-1848 and these can be viewed online here.