The Great Famine - an Gorta Mor

The Great Famine- an Gorta Mór (Great Hunger) – is Ireland’s greatest tragedy.

The blight caused more than a million Irish people to die of starvation or related illnesses and two and a half million more to emigrate to America and elsewhere on what were called “Coffin Ships.”

The English believed that the Irish were mainly to blame for the plight because they used outdated and inefficient farming systems. The English believed that the Irish were lazy and didn’t deserve help. The London Times helped to promote that belief: “…the reason for the potato disease in Ireland was God's punishment on the Irish because the majority of them were Catholic.”

Our guest speaker will be Irish born and raised Tom O'Reilly, who has a PhD in Irish History. Tom is also a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, Smithtown, NY.

Join us on Wednesday, December 8th at the Garden City Casino - please note the venue change. The meeting begins at 7:30pm, and is free and open to the public.

Maximum attendance is 40, so arrive early to make sure you get a spot!