Irish Hunger Memorial
The Irish Hunger Memorial is a 0.5-acre (0.20 ha)[1] park at the corner of Vesey Street and North End Avenue in the Battery Park City neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City — dedicated to raising awareness of the Great Irish Famine, referred to as An Gorta Mór in Irish or "The Great Hunger" in English, in which over one million starved to death between 1845 and 1852.
Construction of the memorial began in March 2001, and despite the September 11 attacks on the nearby World Trade Center, which also affected surrounding areas, the memorial was completed and dedicated on July 16, 2002.[2]
The memorial, designed collaboratively by artist Brian Tolle, landscape architect Gail Wittwer-Laird, and architecture firm 1100 Architect, is landscaped with stones, soil, and native vegetation transported from the western coast of Ireland — with stones from all counties of Ireland.
An authentic Irish cottage from 19th century[2] from Carradoogan in the parish of Attymass in County Mayo belonged to the Slack family — and was deserted in the 1960s. The Slack family donated the cottage to the memorial in "memory of all the Slack family members of previous generations who emigrated to America and fared well there."[2][3]
In August 2016, the memorial was temporarily closed for waterproofing work.[4] It reopened in August 2017.
Gallery
- North side, showing gradual rise of the structure
- West side, showing the high end
- Stones placed on the roof with names of the Irish counties
- Passageway connecting the west side to the ruined stone cottage and the roof
- Interior of cottage ruins
See also
References
- ↑ "Brian Tolle Irish Hunger Memorial, 2002". Battery Park City. 2002. Archived from the original on September 26, 2012. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
- 1 2 3 Smith, Roberta (July 16, 2002). "A Memorial Remembers The Hungry". The New York Times. Retrieved July 10, 2010.
- ↑ "Slack History". carradoogan.com. Retrieved July 10, 2010.
- ↑ "Irish Hunger Memorial WaterProofing Project". bpca.ny.gov. Battery Park City Authority. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Irish Hunger Memorial. |
- Architectural Record Magazine Between Two Worlds: Remembering the Hungry By Roger Shepherd
- Jane Holtz Kay Hunger for Memorials: Article from Landscape Architecture, March 2003
- New York City Walk Photo Tour of Irish Hunger Memorial
- New York's garden monument to the Irish Famine Tourist Information Site
- Official website
- Irish Hunger Memorial brochure
Coordinates: 40°42′54.5″N 74°00′59.5″W / 40.715139°N 74.016528°W