Quinnipiac University’s 'Grey Nuns and the Great Hunger Exhibition'



Photo by Johnathon Henninger.

HAMDEN – An exhibit created by Ireland’s Great Hunger Institute at Quinnipiac University will be a part of the National Famine commemoration in Dublin on Sept. 11, according to a release.

 

 

 "'Saving the Famine Irish: The Grey Nuns and the Great Hunger,' which tells the story of the religious orders in Montreal whose members gave selflessly to Irish immigrants during the summer of 1847, will be part of the ninth annual commemoration, which will take place at Glasnevin Cemetery," the release said.

Ireland President Michael D. Higgins, and Heather Humphreys T.D., minister for arts and heritage, are expected to attend, the release noted. 

 

The exhibition will remain on display there until early December, the release said.

 

Christine Kinealy, founding director of Ireland's Great Hunger Institute at Quinnipiac and a professor of history, "collaborated with Jason King, Irish Research Council postdoctoral fellow at Moore Institute at Galway University, to create the exhibition, which has been displayed at Quinnipiac and in Montreal," the release said.

 

“I am delighted that people in Ireland will have an opportunity to learn about the Grey Nuns of Montreal, who showed such charity and compassion to the 70,000 Irish poor who arrived in the city in Black '47,” Kinealy said, also in the release. “It is a story of humanity that remains inspirational today.”

 

"Many thousands of people fled from Ireland during the Great Hunger, a period of mass starvation and disease between 1845 and 1852, and immigrated to Canada. Famine immigrants to Montreal were not only among the poorest of the poor, but many of them arrived already sick with typhus fever. Despite this, a number of people in the English and French Canadian communities provided the ailing and the dying with shelter and support. In the forefront of this compassionate movement were the Sisters of Charity, also known as the Grey Nuns."  

 

"The story of the Grey Nuns, and of the other religious orders who helped the dying Irish immigrants, is one of kindness, compassion and true charity," Kinealy said in the release. "Nonetheless, almost 6,000 Irish immigrants perished in the fever sheds of Montreal. They had fled from famine in Ireland only to die of fever in Canada. This is a remarkable story that deserves to be better known."

 

Further, "Ireland’s Great Hunger Institute at Quinnipiac University

Ireland's Great Hunger Institute strives to offer a deeper understanding of the causes and consequences of the Irish Famine, also known as An Gorta Mór, through a program of lectures, conferences, courses and publications. The institute also fosters an appreciation for Irish culture and history."

 

For more information about Quinnipiac University, visit www.quinnipiac.edu. Connect with Quinnipiac on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/quinnipiacunews and follow Quinnipiac on Twitter @QuinnipiacU.

 

Photo caption: Christine Kinealy, founding director of Ireland’s Great Hunger Institute at Quinnipiac University, puts the finishing touches on the exhibit, "Saving the Famine Irish: The Grey Nuns and the Great Hunger," which will be apart of the National Famine Commemoration in Dublin on Sept. 11.

 

Editor's note: All information and the photo in this post were contributed. Click one of the buttons below to share it.

'Ireland’s Great Hunger Institute at Quinnipiac University digitizes' historic news edition of Rising

 

Credit to Quinnipiac University
 

Ireland’s Great Hunger Institute at Quinnipiac University "has digitized the first issue of “The Weekly Irish Times” to be published in Dublin immediately following the Easter Rising," according to a release

 

"The first issue is featured in the institute’s exhibit, 'The Seed of the People: 1916 Remembered,' which runs from March 23-Sept. 30 in the Lender Family Special Collection Room, located in the Arnold Bernhard Library, on the Mount Carmel Campus," the release said.

 

 

"Christine Kinealy, director of the institute, worked with Mary Glynn, information analytics manager at Quinnipiac, to make all 12 pages of the newspaper available for viewing and research at http://www.quinnipiac.edu/IGHICollection."

 

Image from Ireland's Great Hunger Museum - Helen Bennett

“Newspapers provide a fascinating window into the past,” Kinealy said, also in he release. “This edition is particularly poignant as it brings the first news of the men executed for taking part in the Rising. We are delighted to make it freely available to anybody interested in learning more about the Rising and its immediate aftermath.”

 

This year is the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising in Ireland, "a rebellion that changed the course of modern Ireland and led to its independence."

 

Read about local folks with Irish forebears and what they had to say about the Rising anniversary.

 

 The exhibit honors one of the most pivotal years in Irish history, when a small group of men and women in Dublin rebelled against the British Empire.

 

Image from Ireland's Great Hunger Museum - Helen Bennett

The institute’s exhibit also "features both a full Proclamation of the Irish Republic, which is being loaned to the institute by Jim Callery of Strokestown House in County Roscommon, Ireland, and a rare half copy of the Proclamation, considered to be one of the most important documents in Irish history, which is on loan from Todd Allen of New Jersey," the release said.

 

Exhibit hours are Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 5 p.m.

 

 

 

Also noted in the release:

 

In addition to “The Seed of the People: 1916 Remembered,” Quinnipiac will screen the documentary film, “1916: Irish Rebellion,” on Sept. 29 from 4-7 p.m. in the Mount Carmel Auditorium in the Center for Communications and Engineering. A panel discussion will follow with faculty from Quinnipiac and the University of Notre Dame.   

 

All events are open to the public. For more information about institute events, call 203-582-7809.

 

"Ireland’s Great Hunger Institute at Quinnipiac University is a scholarly resource that uses lectures, conferences, courses and publications, to provide a deeper understanding of the causes and consequences of the Irish Famine, also known as An Gorta Mór. The Institute also fosters an appreciation for Irish culture and history."

Editor's note: All information and the top photo in this post were contributed. Click one of the buttons below to share it.