When the Great Famine Voices Roadshow travelled for the first time earlier this year to Canada and the United States, the public was encouraged to attend in order to share their family stories, memories, and artifacts associated with Irish famine migration in the 19th century.
At the time of the initial announcement, Dr. Jason King of the Irish Heritage Trust said, “The goal is to make accessible the personal accounts of immigrant families so that future generations may better understand the realities of this rich history of immigration.”
The interviews of descendants of famine emigrants who survived their journey took place in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, New Haven, Toronto, and Montreal, and the recordings of these interviews are available on the Great Famine Voices Roadshow website. Tabs across the top of the website provide a link to the videos in each city.
Most interviews are preceded with titles to indicate the name of the ancestor and where they were from in Ireland.
In Montreal, descendants of Irish immigrants speak about their ancestors in front of a replica of the Black Rock, the Irish commemorative stone. Among those interviewed is a descendant of an Irish orphan who was cared for by the Grey Nuns and the chief of the Mohawk Band Council at Kahnawake who recounts the story of her ancestors’ donation to help alleviate Irish suffering.
