Editing Great Famine (Ireland) (section)

==Memorials==
{{Main|List of memorials to the Great Famine}}
{{Further|Legacy of the Great Irish Famine}}
[[File:Famine memorial dublin.jpg|upright=1.25|thumb|[[Famine Memorial (Dublin)|Famine Memorial]] in [[Dublin]]]]

Ireland's National Famine Memorial is situated in [[Murrisk Millennium Peace Park]], a five-acre park overlooking the Atlantic Ocean in the village of [[Murrisk]], [[County Mayo]] at the foot of [[Croagh Patrick]] mountain.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.murrisk.com/|title=Murrisk, Co. Mayo in the West of Ireland|publisher=murrisk.com|access-date=13 August 2022}}</ref>{{sfn|McDonald|2010|p={{page needed|date=September 2023}}}} Designed by Irish artist [[John Behan (sculptor)|John Behan]], the memorial consists of a bronze sculpture of a coffin ship with skeletons interwoven through the rigging symbolising the many emigrants that did not survive the journey across the ocean to Britain, America and elsewhere. It was unveiled on 20 July 1997 by then-[[President of Ireland|President]] [[Mary Robinson]].<ref name=IFM>{{cite web |url=https://irishfaminememorials.com/2014/01/16/murrisk-co-mayo-1997/ |title=Murrisk, Co. Mayo (1997) |publisher=castlebar.ie |date=1 January 2014 |access-date=13 August 2022}}</ref> The Famine Commemoration Committee who led the project chose the site in Murrisk as they felt it was "...entirely fitting that the national famine memorial [..] be located in the west, which suffered most during the Famine with one in four of the population of Connaught dying in those terrible years."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1997-03-26/69/ |title=Dáil Éireann debate – Wednesday, 26 Mar 1997. Vol. 477 No. 1 |publisher=[[Dáil Éireann]] |work=PQ Number [477/1] |date=26 March 1997 |access-date=13 August 2022}}</ref><ref name=ABray>{{cite news |last=Bray |first=Allison |date=15 May 2010 |title=Minute's silence urged for victims of Famine |url=https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/minutes-silence-urged-for-victims-of-famine-26655203.html |access-date=12 August 2022 |work=[[The Irish Independent]] |language=en}}</ref>

The [[National Famine Commemoration Day]] is observed annually in Ireland, usually on a Sunday in May.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0711/1224300494619.html |title=Minister denies postponing Famine event |last=Wylie |first=Catherine |date=11 July 2011 |newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] |access-date=10 February 2012 |archive-date=12 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110712014916/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0711/1224300494619.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

It is also memorialized in many locations throughout Ireland, especially in those regions of Ireland which suffered the greatest losses, and it is also memorialized overseas, particularly in cities with large populations which are descended from Irish immigrants, such as [[New York City]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/16/arts/critic-s-notebook-a-memorial-remembers-the-hungry.html |title=Critic's Notebook; A Memorial Remembers The Hungry |last=Smith |first=Roberta |date=16 July 2002 |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=5 September 2017 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=29 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170929202453/http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/16/arts/critic-s-notebook-a-memorial-remembers-the-hungry.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Among the memorials in the US is the [[Irish Hunger Memorial]] near a section of the Manhattan waterfront.<ref name=":0" />

[[Kindred Spirits (sculpture)|''Kindred Spirits'']], a large stainless steel sculpture of nine eagle feathers by artist Alex Pentek was erected in 2017 in the Irish town of [[Midleton]], [[County Cork]], to thank the Choctaw people for its [[#Charity|financial assistance during the famine]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Irish Town Builds Memorial to Thank Native Americans Who Helped During the Potato Famine |website=Good News Network |date=17 March 2015 |language=en |url=https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/irish-town-builds-memorial-to-thank-native-americans-who-helped-during-famine/ |access-date=18 March 2019 |archive-date=28 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200628190053/https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/irish-town-builds-memorial-to-thank-native-americans-who-helped-during-famine/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Choctaw chief to mark Midleton sculpture dedication |date=7 June 2017 |language=en |work=[[Irish Examiner]] |url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/choctaw-chief-to-mark-midleton-sculpture-dedication-451850.html |access-date=18 March 2019 |archive-date=12 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200512223856/https://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/choctaw-chief-to-mark-midleton-sculpture-dedication-451850.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

An annual [[Doolough Tragedy|Great Famine walk]] from [[Doolough]] to [[Louisburgh, County Mayo]] was inaugurated in 1988 and has been led by such notable personalities as Archbishop [[Desmond Tutu]] of South Africa and representatives of the Choctaw nation of Oklahoma.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/annual-famine-walk-held-in-mayo-1.579207 |title=Annual Famine walk held in Mayo |newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] |access-date=5 September 2017 |language=en-US |archive-date=4 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180204015726/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/annual-famine-walk-held-in-mayo-1.579207 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |url=http://www.newstatesman.com/travel/2009/05/ireland-louisburgh-night |first=Charlie |last=Connelly |title=The black lake's secret |magazine=[[New Statesman]] |language=en |access-date=5 September 2017 |archive-date=4 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170904195918/http://www.newstatesman.com/travel/2009/05/ireland-louisburgh-night |url-status=dead}}</ref> The walk, organised by [[Afri (organisation)|Afri]], takes place on the first or second Saturday of May and links the memory of the famine with contemporary human rights issues.