Name: The Great Hunger
Start: 2017-09-10T14:30:00+01:00
Location: Manchester Chorlton Irish Club

MANCHESTER: Chorlton Irish Club

Sunday 10th September, 2017

2:30pm

Event information

THE GREAT HUNGER
A commemoration of the Irish Famine
Sunday 10th September • Chorlton Irish Club

The Great Famine of 1845-52 was the most devastating event in the history of modern Ireland. In a country of eight million people, the Famine caused the death of at least one million, with around two million forced to emigrate; this at a time when Ireland was exporting vast quantities of corn, wheat, barley and other foodstuffs to Britain. As such it became known more accurately as "The Great Hunger". The Irish population halved to just over four million by the beginning of the twentieth century.

Timed to align with the National Famine event in Tipperary this September, IRISH MANCUNIAN presents a commemoration of The Great Hunger, featuring film, a book launch, and performance in song and spoken word :

FILM: Ireland's Great Hunger / Remember Skibbereen

"There have been many films on this general subject but none that so expertly assembled and presented the basic terrible facts and shaped them into a riveting story" - Irish Independent

FAMINE VOICES: verbatim accounts of experiences of the Great Hunger

BOOK LAUNCH: Michael Sheehan launches his new book "The Great Hunger in Manchester", which tells the tragic stories of Irish famine refugees in the city.

LIVE MUSIC: Angela Durcan and Dominic Kane round off the day with a selection of songs of the Famine and emigration, such as "Skibbereen", "Paddy's Green Shamrock Shore" and "CIty of Chicago".

THEN & NOW: Oxfam's regional manager will speak about their work, drawing parallels between the Irish Famine and the contemporary experience of people facing hunger and forced emigration.

POETRY: Bridie Breen from Manchester Irish Writers

Approximate timings:
2pm: Doors open
2.30pm: FILM
3.40pm: POETRY
3.50pm break
4.10pm: FAMINE VOICES
4.30pm: BOOK LAUNCH
5pm break
5.20pm: OXFAM
5.40pm: MUSIC
6.10pm: finish

Book Stall • Bar/tea/coffee/snacks available

Entry £8 in advance; £10 on the door.

Advance tickets available at http://www.wegottickets.com/mancirish

Presented by IRISH MANCUNIAN in conjunction with Chorlton Irish Club.

(Image shown is "Burying The Child" by Lilian Lucy Davidson 1893-1954. It resides in the Great Hunger Museum in Connecticut. See http://ighm.org/gorta/)