Date Of Visit: March 17, 2017
Location: corners of Washington and School St, Boston, MA
Cost: Free
Hours: Accessible everyday, 24 hours a day
Parking:Street parking can be difficult is this neighborhood. Finding a parking garage is probably the best option. Also, the Park St train stop on the Red Line is within walking distance (about half a mile) to the memorial.
Handicapped Accessible: Yes
Dog Friendly: Yes
While we’re celebrating Saint Patrick’s Day with our green beer and corned beef (pause for the collective yuck) it’s easy to forget about the history of the Irish people and the hardships that brought so many Irish here, especially to New England.
The Boston Irish Famine Memorial is dedicated to the Great Famine that gripped Ireland in 1845. Potatoes, a main crop in Ireland, stopped growing, leaving many to go hungry and suffer financially as they could not sell their crops. Mold was the culprit. Since potatoes were the main crop in Ireland, many of the poor in Ireland suffered from the famine, with about one-eighth of the population dying from hunger or disease related to the famine over the following years. As a result of the famine, Irish immigration to the United States spiked with over 1.5 million Irish arriving on our shores. Boston was one of the main destinations for these new citizens and the Irish remain a prominent part of our community.
Robert Shure’s Boston Irish Famine Memorial displays the pain and, conversely, pride of the Irish people who have suffered so much. It is a somber, powerful and inspiring display of the suffering and, ultimately, the ability of the Irish to overcome their “troubles”.
The first statue, located on School and Washington streets, shows three people, presumably a mother, father and child, in the throes of hunger. Shure was meticulous in his sculpture. You can see how thin the figures are and, from certain angles, you can actually see the ribs of the figures.
The second sculpture shows three people, presumably the very same family healthy and happy. Standing up straight and proudly, the family looks happy and healthy. It is most certainly a sign of how all of us can overcome adversity and how the Irish have been able to withstand so much.
As an aside, I love the diversity of Boston. Traversing through the memorial, I witnessed people of all walks of life and ethnicities.
A wreath and flower was placed by the Charitable Irish Society at the sculpture of the suffering family and on one of the figures of the memorial to commemorate Saint Patrick’s Day.
A series of 8 plaques encircle the memorial. One of the plaques, entitled “Let’s We Forget”, gives a nod to the suffering and famines across the globe and how we continue to watch as others starve helplessly.
The bronze and granite memorial was dedicated in June of 1998, marking the 150th anniversary of the famine.
On my way back to the train station, I saw Brig, a beautiful Bull Mastiff.
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March 18th, 2017 at 6:22 am
And with that famine, a great diaspora of the Irish people was born.
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March 18th, 2017 at 4:32 pm
Yes, it did help create the diaspora as you mentioned. It actually is the reason I am here in the states now.
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March 19th, 2017 at 12:01 pm
That’s right!
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March 18th, 2017 at 8:45 am
And the English, supposedly Christians did little or nothing to help their Irish subjects. That was because of the clash between Protestant and Catholic, with the richer Protestant landlords feeling they had no reason to help the starving Catholic peasant farmers. How things have changed for the better in the last 170 years. Nowadays so many people have just abandoned religion completely.
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March 18th, 2017 at 4:47 pm
Yes, and it created a lot of animosity and hatred which took a lot of time to resolve and still lingers, unfortunately. Things have certainly improved between the countries.
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March 18th, 2017 at 12:03 pm
Thank you for sharing. I have so man ancestors who came to Scotland at the height of this famine.
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March 18th, 2017 at 4:48 pm
Thank you. I am not far removed from this myself as my great grandfather was one of those who fled. It is a very emotional point in our history. It feels so much more emotional when it hits home, doesn’t it?
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March 18th, 2017 at 1:33 pm
Your visit must have been a powerful experience. Thank you for sharing. I’ve known myself to be English (on my mother’s side) all my life. My recent DNA test tells me that I’m as much Irish as English. So, I’ve been catching up on Irish history.
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March 18th, 2017 at 4:59 pm
It was very emotional, Elaine. As you are probably aware, I am very Irish and while any memorial to victims of a famine would touch me deeply, this memorial hit home for me. As I mentioned in my comments, my great grandfather fled Ireland (Cork County) to Newfoundland, then my grandfather and grandmother made their way to the states. People not far removed from me suffered from this plight. So, yes, it touched me on a very personal level. Thank you.
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March 18th, 2017 at 6:25 pm
Very lovely memorial! I’m partly of Irish descent, and I appreciate this memorial. My great, great, great (not sure how many greats) grandfather came over at the time of the famine and settled in Ontario.
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March 18th, 2017 at 6:29 pm
That’s so interesting because my great grandfather also settled in Canada in Newfoundland before immigrating to the states. I think it was a common stop for people fleeing the famine.
It is such a touching memorial. I especially like the second sculpture of the family walking proudly. Thank you!
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March 18th, 2017 at 6:30 pm
😀 😀
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March 18th, 2017 at 6:30 pm
☺
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March 18th, 2017 at 11:44 pm
Amazing history and well documented.
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March 18th, 2017 at 11:47 pm
Thank you!
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March 24th, 2017 at 9:11 am
An extra touch of sadness: the pigeons have taken over this memorial.
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March 24th, 2017 at 11:38 am
That is unfortunate. Thank you
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