Ireland’s President Michael D. Higgins and Minister Heather Humphreys open Grey Nuns Famine Exhibit at Glasnevin Museum in Dublin

by irishcanadianfamineresearcher

From left: Minister Heather Humphreys, Dr Jason King, President Michael D. Higgins, and Professor Christine Kinealy.

President Michael D. Higgins and Minister for Arts, Heritage, and Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs Heather Humphreys opened the “Saving the Famine Irish: The Grey Nuns and the Great Hunger” Exhibit at Glasnevin Museum for the National Famine Commemoration. The exhibit is curated by Professor Christine Kinealy, Founding Director of Ireland’s Great Hunger Institute at Quinnipiac University, and Dr Jason King.

In paying tribute to the Grey Nuns of Montreal, President Higgins declared:

During that bleak and terrible period of our history, an estimated one hundred thousand Irish people fled to Canada. It is impossible to imagine the pain, fear, despair, and suffering of these emigrants, many of whom lost beloved family members on their journey. As a country, we owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the Grey Nuns, who cared for so many Irish widows and orphans who were left destitute, impoverished and alone in a strange country.

This [exhibit with its] virtual archive is a very important project, which allows us to finally acknowledge the generosity and enormous humanity of those wonderful sisters whose kindness and compassion, during one of the worst moments in our Country’s history, must never be forgotten.

In her address at the National Famine Commemoration, Minister Humphreys stated:

Today we will also remember those such as the Grey Nuns of Montreal who are depicted in a new exhibition here in Glasnevin, and who chose to put themselves in harm’s way to treat and aid Famine vicitms. Such people remain the light of the human spirit confronting the darkness, and should not be forgotten.

The “Saving the Famine Irish: The Grey Nuns and the Great Hunger” exhibit is open to the public free of charge from September 11, 2016 until the end of the year in the Glasnevin Museum (Glasnevin Cemetery, Finglas Road, Glasnevin, Dublin 11. Opening hours: Monday to Sunday & Bank Holidays, 10am-5pm).

Tel: +353 (0)1 882 6550+353 (0)1 882 6550 | Email: info@glasnevintrust.ie

The virtual archive can be found at:

http://faminearchive.nuigalway.ie/