Irish Hunger Memorial facts for kids
The Irish Hunger Memorial is a special park in New York City. It's about half an acre big, located in the Battery Park City area of Manhattan. This memorial helps people remember the Great Irish Hunger, also called An Gorta Mór in Irish. During this terrible time, from 1845 to 1852, over one million people died from starvation. This happened because a fungus-like organism called Phytophthora infestans destroyed most of the potato crops. Also, British policies at the time made things worse by sending profitable foods out of Ireland.
The memorial was started in March 2001. Even after the September 11 attacks on the nearby World Trade Center, which affected the area, the memorial was finished. It was officially opened on July 16, 2002.
What is the Irish Hunger Memorial like?
The memorial was designed by artist Brian Tolle, landscape architect Gail Wittwer-Laird, and the company 1100 Architect. It looks like a natural landscape. It has stones, soil, and plants that were brought all the way from the western coast of Ireland. There are even stones from every Irish county!
A real Irish cottage from the 1800s is part of the memorial. This cottage came from a place called Carradoogan in County Mayo, Ireland. It belonged to the Slack family and was left empty in the 1960s. The Slack family gave their cottage to the memorial. They did this to remember all their family members who moved to America and did well there.
In August 2016, the memorial was closed for a short time to fix some waterproofing. It reopened in August 2017.
Images for kids
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The north side, showing how the structure slowly rises.
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The west side, showing the highest part of the memorial.
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Stones on the roof with the names of Irish counties.
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A path connecting the west side to the old stone cottage and the roof.
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Inside the ruined cottage.
See also
In Spanish: Memorial de la gran hambruna irlandesa para niños
