The British Minister Tony Blair issued in 1997 an apology for the victims of the Great Famine by publicly declaring that: ‘The famine was a defining event in the history of Ireland and Britain. It has left deep scars. That one million people should have died in what was then part of the richest and most powerful nation in the world is something that still causes pain as we reflect on it today.’ This course will reflect on public memory and legacy of the Irish Famine (1845-1852), a watershed in the history of Ireland. It will start out by examining the event which saw the death of over a million people, as well as the departure of 1,5 million emigrants from Ireland. The focus will then be on the public commemoration and remembrance of the Famine from the 1990s onwards.
- Enseignant: Géraldine Vaughan