New documentary on Ireland’s Great Hunger to air at Quinnipiac University

HAMDEN- The documentary, "Ireland’s Great Hunger and the Irish Diaspora," will be premiered from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Nov. 10, in the Quinnipiac University Mount Carmel Auditorium in the Center for Communications and Engineering, according to a release shared by the university.

The event is sponsored by Ireland’s Great Hunger Institute at Quinnipiac and is free and open to the public.

"I feel the documentary will help viewers develop a deeper understanding of a major, tragic event in world history," said Rebecca Abbott, who co-produced the documentary, also in the release. "I hope by getting a better understanding of the historical, cultural and political events leading up to and surrounding the Great Hunger, audiences will begin to see how this understanding can give insight into events taking place today."

Abbott, who filmed and edited the documentary, and co-producer Liam O’Brien, are both professors in the department of film, television and media arts, the release said.

"The 50-minute documentary, narrated by actor Gabriel Byrne, explores not just the potato crop failure that led to mass starvation, death and emigration from 1845 to 1852, but the historical, social and political circumstances that made what is misleadingly called the great ‘famine’ almost inevitable," the release said.

"Understanding how the Great Hunger happened can help us see - and perhaps prevent - similar situations that are developing and taking place in the world today," Abbott said, also in the release.

"The mission of the Great Hunger Institute is to promote a scholarly understanding of the Great Hunger," said Christine Kinealy, founding director of Ireland’s Great Hunger Institute, also in the release. "The production of this documentary reinforces the fact that Quinnipiac University is a world leader in the study of the Great Hunger."

In addition to Kinealy, the documentary features several leading scholars of Irish history, including: Declan Kiberd, University College Dublin and Notre Dame University; Ciaran O’Murchadha, author of "The Great Famine: Ireland’s Agony 1845-1852"; Mike Murphy, University College Cork; and Richard Reid, historian, National Museum of Australia.

Seating is limited. Register here. For more information, call 203-582-8652.