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Learn more about
the Irish Famine Memorial coming to Portland at the 7th Annual Hibernian Dinner: Saturday,
February 26, 2005 Receive an update on Oregon's Irish Famine Memorial,
see photographs of the sculptor Brendan
McGloin at work in Donegal, and enjoy your Irish Heritage at: Kells
Irish Restaurant and Pub
112 S.W. Second Avenue, Portland KellsIrish.com
(Parking
available in lot behind Kells on First Ave.)
Doors open 6:30 p.m. in the beautiful
upstairs banquet facility Speaker: City of Portland Commissioner
Randy Leonard
Guest:
Donal
Denham, Consul General of Ireland Live Irish Music and Dance with
Molly Malone Dance School
Accompanied
by Musicians Peter Yeates and Skip Parente Cost: Only
$25 per person for fabulous Irish-style buffet meal
Call Peter Cullen at: (503)
244-5789 for reservations ASAP This event is open to the public, even
those without Irish heritage -- but those who love Ireland -- as is the case with
many of us at the Celtic Cafe! • • •
Click
here for an article about the Celtic Cross recreated for the site in Oregon. • • • The following is the text
of a speech delivered in 2002 in Portland by David O'Longaigh to commence the
Memorial fundraising campaign.
OREGON'S IRISH POTATO FAMINE MEMORIAL Thanks
to educational efforts made over the past number of years by Irish-American organizations,
in Portland, Oregon, and around the entire United States, America now knows the
catastrophe that befell Ireland during the Potato Famine. In 1845, just
prior to the Great Potato Famine, Ireland's population stood at 8 million people.
By 1855, ten years later, that figure had fallen to 5 million. Today, 150 years
later, Ireland's population still stands at 5 million people. So where
did the 3 million Irish men, women, and children disappear to? 1 million
perished from the effects of 6 years of successive potato crop failures. The remaining
2 million desperate souls, determined to escape a similar fate, fled Ireland for
foreign shores. Thankfully there was Australia and Canada to escape to.
Thank God there was America. Of those 2 million famine refugees fleeing Ireland
in the wake of the Potato Famine, most sought refuge in America. Thankfully there
were places like New York and Boston for the Famine Irish to start over and raise
families. And then there was Oregon. We don't often think
of Oregon as a place where the Famine Irish found refuge. But we should, because
they did. There was a report published in Ireland in the April 1st, 1846
Waterford Freeman newspaper: The tide of emigration has already set in at
this port. Early in the season as it now is, numbers of persons intending to quit
old Ireland to seek the means of existence denied them, in the backwoods of America,
or perhaps, in the disputed territory of Oregon, have left this city per the steamers
to take shipping at Liverpool. The statistics of the United States Census
Bureau speaks volumes. When the first census for Portland was taken at Christmas
time 1850, Portland had just 12 Irish-born out of a population of 821. Or put
another way, in 1850 just 1 percent of Portland's population was Irish-born. That's
a small number, but not surprising when you consider that the mass emigration
from Ireland due to the Potato Famine was just beginning. Ten years later in 1860,
the Irish comprised 10 percent of Portland's population. That's a huge jump. The
Irish were also the largest foreign born group in Portland at the time, comprising
30 percent of the City's foreigners. And the Irish maintained their status as
Portland's largest foreign born group until the 1880's, when that title went to
the Chinese. The Irish made their mark on Portland and Oregon, and contributed
substantially to the ultimate success of the State. In many ways they are part
of the unsung historical legacy of the State, but in fairness that can truly be
said about other ethnic groups also, particularly the Chinese. For a number
of years now, we Irish in Portland have been studying the ways and means of building
a Memorial to An Gorta Mór, Ireland's Great Potato Famine. It would also
be a memorial that would recognize the great sacrifice the Irish made and the
commitment they showed in crossing the Trail to Oregon, whether by land or by
sea. Once settled in Oregon history shows that the Irish lived out the remainder
of their lives serving the needs of the State as if it were their own native land. For
the design of Oregon's Memorial to the Potato Famine, we have looked to Ireland's
Golden Age for inspiration. Thanks to the international best seller,
the whole world now knows How
the Irish Saved Civilization. While Europe was being overrun by the fire-breathing,
church-destroying, book burning heathens, Ireland alone kept the fire of knowledge
burning at Great Monastic sites, where Irish monks wrote manuscripts and spoke
Greek and Latin as if it were their own native tongue. One such monastery was
Clonmacnoise, located in Co. Offaly, along the Banks of the mighty River Shannon.
The Monastery of Clonmacnoise was founded around 548 AD, barely half a
century following St. Patrick's death by Saint Ciaran, the son of a carpenter.
In its day, Clonmacnoise was considered to be one of the greatest places of learning
and worship in Europe. So great were its fame and treasures, that it repeatedly
fell to attack by Vikings, but always managed to rebuild. Saint Ciaran, the founder,
is buried there, as is Rory O'Connor, the last High King of Ireland. There
is a 14th century Irish poem, The Dead at Clonmacnoise, which has been translated
into English, and whose opening verse captures the tranquility of the site:
In a quiet watered land
A land of roses
Stands St. Ciaran's city fair.
And the Warriors of Eireann
In their famous generations
Slumber there.
The
Clonmacnoise monastic site as it stands today contains the remains of numerous
ruined churches, two round towers (used by the monks for their protection during
Viking raids), and a number of Celtic stone crosses, including perhaps Ireland's
finest Celtic cross, the Cross of the Scriptures. Standing 13 feet tall,
it was carved out of stone around 900 AD, over 1100 years ago, and had as its
patron no less than Flann an Ri, the High King of Ireland. In all its proud
standing, is there any greater symbol of Ireland that the Celtic Cross, a symbol
born from Ireland's own genius. Consider its origin. The pagan Celtic Irish venerated
the features and forces of the natural world; the forest, the rocks, the rivers,
the sun. Consider the effect when the newly christianized Celtic Irish, combine
the sun, a symbol of their native religion, with the cross, the symbol of Christ.
The Celtic cross was born. As might be expected, the design of the Celtic
cross has evolved over time, from plain simple crosses with little decoration,
to elaborate ornamental crosses, filled with Celtic motifs, to scriptural high
crosses, like the "Cross of the Scriptures" at Clonmacnoise. This final
group of crosses, are often described as "sermons in stone" so rich
are the elaborately decorated scenes carved into the stone. They could be called
Irish Totem Poles. Scenes from the Cross of the Scriptures include the crucifixion,
the last judgement and even the High King of Ireland. It is here, in the
Cross of the Scriptures, that we found our inspiration for Oregon's Potato Famine
Memorial. We propose to reproduce, out of blocks of stone, using only hand held
tools in a timeless manner, a replica of the Cross of the Scriptures, restored
to the full glory of when it first was carved along the bank of the River Shannon
over 1000 years ago. Location, location, location. The quest for a location
for the proposed Memorial has been an interesting journey. Among the sites considered
were Mt. Calvary Cemetery, Lone Fir Cemetery, Riverview Cemetery, Washington Park,
University of Portland, Tom McCall Waterfront Park. But through it all one location
stood out from the crowd, Mt. Calvary Cemetery. It is a fact that the vast
majority of Irish men, women and children of Catholic descent who died in Portland
since pioneer times lie buried at Mt. Calvary Cemetery. Portland's Irish Famine
refugees lie buried there, as well as their descendents. That's what made this
location the logical choice. Thankfully Fr. Dennis O'Donovan, the Vicar General
was in agreement, and we feel very grateful to the Archdiocese of Portland, who
has graciously donated a site at Mount Calvary Cemetery for the Memorial.
The
location agreed upon for the Memorial lies at the intersection of West Burnside
and Skyline. Situated near the crest of a hill, the Cross would have command of
the street intersection below it, and the cemetery before it. It is estimated
that to have this Memorial carved in stone in Ireland, and shipped to Oregon and
mounted at Mt. Calvary would cost between $100,000 and $130,000. That's our goal.
Stone sculpting is a vibrant art form in Ireland, and in Brendan
McGloin, a young sculptor from Donegal Town, we have placed the responsibility
of carving our Memorial. Consider this, the Cross of the Scriptures, located
in Clonmacnoise, does not stand over the remains of any great saint, or a king
or a fallen Celtic warrior. It was not constructed as a grave marker. Its only
purpose was to stand as a symbol of the faith of the Irish in God and their future.
So too Oregon's Memorial to the Potato Famine will stand for the next 1000 years
as a symbol of our faith in Ireland and its future. When completed, Oregon's
Irish Great Famine Memorial will possibly be the finest work of sculptured art
on display to the public in the entire State of Oregon, perhaps the entire West
Coast. It is hoped that this project can be completed and the Memorial
installed by St. Patrick's Day, 2006. ---David O'Longaigh (Text
of a speech delivered in 2002 by O'Longaigh in Portland to commence the Memorial
fundraising campaign.) • • • Further comments by
David O'Longaigh on the Celtic Cross as the theme for the Memorial. I
wanted people to walk away from the Memorial with a visual image of the Glory
of Ireland, not an image of famine and death. When you see the Irish Famine Memorials
throughout the USA, whether they be in Philadelphia, or at the UN in New York,
the images you see of Ireland are depressing and macabre. That is not how I would
want people to remember Ireland. I want visitors to reflect not only on the Potato
Famine, but also on what was and is great about Ireland. I want them to leave
with a sense of hope and beauty, not despair. Our proposed memorial does
that I think. And the Cross of the Scriptures is such a great example of Ireland's
Golden Age. It is perhaps Ireland's most beautiful High Cross. And the imagery
it contains has such breath, its awesome. Christian, Celtic and Classical Greek
and Roman. It is perhaps the only cross that contains the image of a woman, in
this case Mary Magdalene. It also contains a portrait of the High King of Ireland,
Flann Sinna. The Celtic Cross is also such an universally recognized Cultural
Symbol of Ireland. • • • Feature: Bernadette
Price
Original Web Design: Alexander
Servas
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