Loughrea Orphan Girls Project

08/01/2023

14/05/2022

Please take part this weekend in remembering the victims of An Gorta Mór

Tonight light a candle in their memory to reflect on the dark days of Black 47 and the resilience, struggles and successes of the survivors especially those in the diaspora.

This weekend May 14th - 15th 2022

No matter where you are

No matter what you other things you plan to do

Take some time to remember the victims of the Great Hunger

a 'famine' caused by

reckless indifference to the poor

politicians whose focus was on elections and their own power base
and self interests so didn't bother with providing the resources to stem the mounting deaths

reports of starvation denied, condemned as exaggeration and false news

not providing the powerful resources of government, the richest in the world at the time, to alleviate starvation but putting the onus on local committees

This weekend remember our ancestors who survived

but also light a candle for the almost 2 million who perished

17/03/2022

Beannachtaí Lá Fhéile Phádraig

wishing you a wonderful St Patrick's Day wherever you are celebrating

24/12/2021

Christmas Eve tradition to have a candle lit to show the Holy Family that they can rest in your house

Remembering the girls who, far away from the homes of their childhood, carried memories of traditions such as this deep within their heart

Thinking of all who, because of hunger and conflict, war and fear, have no proper place to lay their heads tonight

Like our Orphan Girls they have been uprooted from all they love and cherish

As we connect the girls' descendants to their home place a thought this evening of those still who are homelessness and refugees in our time

may our actions this coming year help bring them to a safe place

As we remember tonight the Holy Family, homeless and refugees themselves, may this light we have lit be a beacon for all who find themselves in similar circumstances

We keep our Orphan Girls' names close to our hearts this Christmas

17/06/2021

'Between 1803 and 1853 almost 13,000 convict women, together with more than 2,000 children, were transported from Ireland to Van Diemen's Land, with many more perishing during the long and arduous sea journey from Ireland to Tasmania.

Rowan Gillespie was commissioned to produce a series of sculptures to be erected on the harbour in Tasmania as a memorial to the many thousands of Irish women who were sent to the penal colonies of Van Dieman’s land in Australia during the 19th century

'Rowan is internationally renowned for his bronze sculptures such as Famine (1997) on Custom House Quay in Dublin, and Migrants (2006) in Toronto and regarded as one of the great figurative sculptors in Irish art.'

from press release for :

'The Shape of History' - Sculpting the convict women of Van Diemen’s Land

This one hour Documentary is on RTE Thursday June 24th at 10.15pm - see link in post for it outside of RTE-land

23/05/2021

Commemoration at Subiaco WA on Sunday 16th May 2021

Commemoration held at Market Square, Subiaco, Western Australiaon International Famine Commemoration Day Sunday 16th May 2021

12/05/2021

The Annual Walk of Remembrance in Mountbellew will be held this Sunday

Like last year people are invited to walk during the day with their own family group

Wherever you are maybe you could organise something similar to remember the victims of An Gorta Mor

Sunday is National Famine Commemoration Day

This Sunday the annual Walk of Remembrance will once again be held in Mountbellew

Like last year we invite people in their family groups to go in their own time and remember the many thousands who suffered in our area during An Gorta Mor

Thanks to Colaiste an Chreagain for maintaining the cemetery and for those who wish to walk there please spend a time of silence as you read the names of those who died in the Workhouse from 1864-1900

As always please donate to a charity of your choice in memory of your own family and kin who lived through those catastrophic times

08/05/2021

Emigrants and Exiles, the East Galway story Conference next Saturday the 15th as part of the local marking of National Famine Commemoration Day on Sunday May 16th

For more info: facebook.com/trasnanatire/events/

02/05/2021

May 16th 2021 is National Famine Commemoration Day

Can I ask you to please share the pic with your social media to help promote a simple remembrance for the victims of An Gorta Mor - lighting a candle on the 15th / 16th

Click on pic and copy and paste to your own timeline or click on the SG post and click share

Let's try and keep the victims in focus especially the families of our girls

04/04/2021

Beannachtai na Casca ort

Easter traditions from the school's collection in 1937 would likely be well known to the girls

Getting up early on Easter Sunday morning to see the sun dance like in Kilkerrin https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4623003/4622788 or like what is described in Lawrencetown eating as many eggs as you liked would possibly be some of the cherished memories they had of a childhood shattered due to An Gorta Mor https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4583331/4580249

We don't know how much of the Easter traditions were kept, very hard to do when in such a different environment compared to the company of family and neighbours that they knew growing up

Many retained a deep Catholic faith and the idea of resurrection to be one day reunited with their loved ones must have been very important to the girls - something they passed down through the generations

stunning picture of Fr Gerard Quirke, son of the late Gerard Quirke of Cloonglasha Tuam & Ann Burke, of Mullaghmore, Moylough celebrating Dawn Mass in Achill this morning

a reminder of the power of their faith and its importance to them to know that after the dark there was always the dawn

Hope that you had a lovely Easter

17/03/2021

Beannachtaí Lá Fhéile Phádraig

remembering the girls on our national day

'If any prayer was a consolation to them it was likely the Prayer of St Patrick - unsure if this would have been known to them but its a prayer that certainly would have been needed

I arise today, through
God's strength to pilot me,
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to guard me,
God's shield to protect me,
God's host to save me
From snares of devils,
From temptation of vices,
From everyone who shall wish me ill,
afar and near.'

Shaun Davey's masterful arrangement
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGHWiAGpIP0

14/03/2021

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCRitMkpUJE

The Hunger narrated by Liam Neeson

in the 1840s, a catastrophic famine brought about the decimation of Ireland’s poor and the exodus of millions from the island.This major, ground-breaking doc...