Dr Emily Mark-Fitzgerald
Dr Mark-FitzGerald explains: “The goal of my research was to trace the historical legacy of Famine commemorative activity… illuminating how this devastating and controversial nineteenth century tragedy has found visual expression in the twentieth.” Between 2003-2007 she travelled throughout Ireland, the UK, North America and Australia, documenting examples of Famine monuments and interviewing the people who sponsored and created them. The result is an unprecedented catalogue of the monuments complete with photographs, full inscriptions and information about their creation
The range of Irish famine monuments is truly diverse, ranging from reconstructed thatch cottages to heart-shaped fountains, simple laser-etched granite markers to elaborate figurative bronzes, community gardens to an acre of Irish landscape tilted in the middle of New York City. One of the best known Famine memory projects is the Irish Hunger Memorial in New York City (2002), a reconstructed Famine-era cottage transported from Co. Mayo and resituated in a simulated Irish landscape set amidst the skyscrapers of Manhattan. Dr Mark-Fitzgerald’s work leaves us with a broader understanding of how and why famine memorials matter to the Irish diaspora.
