Famine museum inaugurated

Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum, a collection of visual art, artefacts and archives relating to the Famine, was inaugurated in …

Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum, a collection of visual art, artefacts and archives relating to the Famine, was inaugurated in Hamden, Connecticut by Minister for Tourism Leo Varadkar yesterday.

The collection of Músaem an Ghorta Mhóir will focus on the famine years of 1845-52.

John Lahey, a philosopher and the Irish-American president of Quinnipiac University, began assembling the collection in 1997. Initially housed at the university, a separate museum has now been designed close to the campus. It will feature works by artists including Jack B Yeats and Robert Ballagh.

The exhibition opens to the public on October 11th.

  • Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date

  • Sign up for push alerts to get the best breaking news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone

  • Listen to In The News podcast daily for a deep dive on the stories that matter