Michael Sheehan, Angela Durcan, Dominic Kane

A commemoration of the Irish Famine

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 a further million or more 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: "Famine in Ireland: Remember Skibbereen"
(plus: analysis on the causes of the Famine from the documentary "Ireland's Great Hunger")
"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.

Voices Of The Famine: verbatim accounts of experiences of the Great Hunger in Manchester.

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".