Mary McAleesePrint Edition: 11/27/2008
Mary McAleese, president of Ireland, visits Portland next month to dedicate the newly installed Oregon Irish Potato Famine Memorial at Mount Calvary Cemetery.
The event — set for 11 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 13 — is open to the public.
This will be the first visit to Portland by a standing President of the Republic of Ireland.
The Oregon Irish Potato Famine Memorial was commissioned by Portland’s Ancient Order of Hibernians, an Irish-American philanthropic group that was strong in the city more than a century ago and was revived in the past decade.
The memorial is a Celtic cross modeled on the ancient Cross of the Scriptures from Clonmacnoise in County Offaly, Ireland, which Irish monks carved in 916.
It honors those who died of hunger and disease during the Great Irish Potato Famine of the middle of the 19th century. The memorial also lauds the dedication and commitment of Irish who made the trek to the West, and lived out the remainder of their lives in Oregon.
Famine struck Ireland from 1845-1851. With the loss of its potato crop for five successive years, the island nation’s rural population was driven to near extinction. One million died, while two million emigrated to save themselves from a similar fate. Most of those came to America.
Many Irish traveled the Oregon Trail to Portland, or sailed by ship around Cape Horn. Census records show that between 1850 and 1880, the Irish were Portland’s largest foreign-born group, comprising almost ten percent of the city’s population. The Ancient Order of Hibernians formed a division in Portland in 1877.
The 14-foot-tall stone replica was hand-carved in Donegal Town, Ireland, by Brendan McGloin, an Irish stone sculptor and artist. The Irish press have reported on the project.
The cross design was chosen for the memorial because it symbolizes Ireland’s contribution to world history and western civilization. The Celtic cross is also a strong symbol of Ireland’s sovereignty, like the shamrock and the harp.
The memorial was funded by Portland’s Ancient Order of Hibernians with contributions from members of Portland’s Irish community.
Mount Calvary Cemetery donated the property for the Celtic High Cross memorial. The cemetery was established in 1888.