Call for official plaque in Kildare to commemorate Irish Famine

More should be done in County Kildare to commemorate the 175th anniversary of the Irish Famine, according to a councillor.

Cllr Joe Neville has suggested that a commemoration could include a display in the Council’s Arás Chill Dara offices as well as an official, permanent plaque.

150th anniversary

Leixlip-based Cllr Neville also said that work that the County Council has previous carried out on the Famine for the 150th anniversary in the 1990s could be revisited and built upon.

He added: “It’s very difficult to grasp the catastrophic and far-reaching impact the Famine had on Ireland’s population and culture.

“In fact Kildare is one of the few counties that has a bigger population now than it had in the 1840s.

“Most counties had their populations decimated for several decades.

“If you look at Roscommon, it never regained back the population it had before the Famine.”

Cllr Neville said that there are remnants across Kildare of the Famine from the 1740s which is referenced in the Wonderful Barn and Connolly’s Obelisk which both date from that time and gave work to impoverished local families.

Cllr Neville said: “As a nation we have never recovered from the tragedy of the Famine.

Impact

“The impact on our people, language, culture and society was unmeasurable and it still affects us today.

“As a country, we need to recognise that in a full annual National Commemoration Day which could be marked locally.”

Kildare has Famine links in the US to this day.

Mass emigration due to the Famine led to the establishment of the Kildare Association of New York which is a benevolent organization set up to encourage socialization and support for American immigrants originating from Kildare.

After reaching their centennial anniversary in 1996, the Kildare Association is one of the first benevolent Irish organisations formed in that country and is still going strong today.