An Irish Monument and An Irish Memorial

Curator's Note:  It is always a special pleasure to share Marc's work (see links below as well).  His extraordinary photos are imbued with his deep understanding and appreciation of the historical and religious implications of the image.  These three photos are ones he shot on a recent trip to Ireland. Here is what he had to say about them:

An Irish Monument - Dunguire Castle

The first is Dunguire Castle in County Clare Ireland. The castle sits on a point of land surrounded by water and projects an attitude of just try and take me. It's probably something like 7 or 8 hundred years old and was, amazingly occupied up until about the 1960's when it was donated to Ireland as a historic monument.

An Irish Memorial to the Irish Brutalized in "Coffin Ships"

The other two photos are of a memorial to the Irish brutalized in "coffin ships" during the potato famine in the mid 1800's. Many perished on ships that were worse than slave ships - wallowing in filth without anything approaching proper nutrition - all for the chance to get a better life in America, Australia, Canada, etc.

For those that don't know, during this period, over 2 million Irish were lost to their homeland due to starvation and immigration. Bluntly stated, this was genocide perpetrated by the English who wanted to drive the small Irish farmers off their land so the land could be absorbed by large (English owned) plantations.There was actually plenty of food available but the large plantation owners chose to export grains and other food stuffs for profits abroad.

This mournful memorial presents this bleak, cruel episode in history in a gut wrenching and heart penetrating form. It is placed across the street from the entrance to Croagh Patrick Mountain, a sacred place of pilgrimage, If there's any bright side to this tragedy at all, it is that our country and many in the world have greatly benefited from the wave of Irish immigrants that found their way to our shores.

Dunguire Castle

Coffin Ship

Skeleton Ghosts

If there's any bright side to this tragedy at all, it is that our country and many in the world have greatly benefited from the wave of Irish immigrants that found their way to our shores.

~Marc Christensen