This year's National Famine Commemoration will take place at National Famine Museum in Roscommon and will include performances by musician Declan O'Rourke.
The 2022 National Famine Commemoration will take place on Sun, May 15, and will be attended by Taoiseach (the Irish leader) Micheál Martin and Government Chief Whip and Minister of State for Sport and the Gaeltacht, Jack Chambers TD. The event will not be open to the public but will be televised on RTE.
The ceremony will include military honors and a wreath-laying ceremony in remembrance of all those who suffered or died during the Great Hunger.
National Famine Museum
This will be the second time that the commemoration has been held in Strokestown Park, in Strokestown, County Roscommon, having been previously held there in 2014. The National Famine Museum has recently undergone a significant redevelopment where the story of Strokestown’s tragic past is brought to life through a captivating audio-visual exhibition.
Strokestown House and Gardens, County Roscommon, home to the National Famine Museum.
The €5 million project received funding of €3.75 million from Fáilte Ireland (Grants Scheme for Large Tourism Projects 2016-2020) and €1.25 million funding from Westward Holdings Ltd, in partnership with the Irish Heritage Trust, which manages the property.
Declan O'Rourke
Declan O'Rourke.
Musician and author Declan O'Rourke will provide musical and spoken word at the National Famine Commemoration ceremony including two songs "Poor Boy's Shoes" and "Along the Western Seaboard" along with a spoken piece "Go Domhain i do Chuimhne" (the "Anthem of 'The National Famine Way'").
O'Rourke recently also release a novel "The Pawn Broker's Reward" giving a voice to the stories of the Famine. His debut novel shows its reader Ireland's Great Hunger through the lens of a single town - Macroom, County Cork.
National Famine Commemoration
The National Famine Commemoration Committee was first established in 2008 following a Government decision to commemorate the Great Irish Famine with an annual national famine memorial day. The Committee is now chaired by Josepha Madigan T.D., Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, and is made up of representatives from the Department of Education and Skills, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Department of Defence, representatives from the Defence Forces, Department of An Taoiseach, Irish Aid, representatives from Trócaire and Gorta, historians, the National Museum of Ireland and other interested parties.
The annual national commemoration revolves between the four provinces of Ireland. An international event also takes place annually to commemorate the Great Irish Famine.
The event will be live-streamed on RTÉ at 11:30 am GMT, on Sunday, May 15, 2022. Click here to watch.
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