Membership Meeting

Monthly business and membership meeting. Presentation by Loretto Leary, on the Great Hunger Museum.

Slideshow Description

Between 1845 and 1852, reliance on a single crop among poorer citizens led to mass starvation and emigration when the potato crop failed for seven consecutive years in Ireland. Due to inadequate government actions, providentialism, and adherence to a laissez-faire economy, over a million people died from hunger, while another million were compelled to leave.

Connecticut’s Irish Famine immigrants exemplify a broader mass migration of individuals who faced anti-Irish sentiments and worked hard to establish themselves as deserving and committed citizens of America. The "Bridgets" and the "stout hands who built our railroads" will be discussed. From ordinary citizens to the corporate giants of Steel and Pool Tables, this slideshow will cover Irish Famine immigrants, both ordinary and extraordinary, who made Connecticut their home.

Loretto Leary

Born in Portumna, County Galway, Loretto Leary has…