Portland's Irish Famine Memorial

A 5-ton sculpture measuring 13 feet high is being shipped from Donegal to Portland where it will be erected as an Irish Famine Memorial at Portland's Mount Calvary cemetery. The sculpture, with intricate Celtic, Roman and Greek imagery, is a replica of the Cross of the Scriptures at Clonmacnoise. The memorial is considered very appropriate because the Famine coincided with the time of the Oregon Trail in the 1850s. At that time, 30% of foreign-born residents of Oregon were Irish.

Special Unveiling event!
Sneak preview of recently arrived Oregon Irish Famine Memorial at Kells 2008 Saint Patrick's Festival on Sunday March 16th from 10 am to 4 pm, at front tent on SW 2nd Avenue facing Kells.

Purpose: To construct a Memorial in Portland to those Irish who died of hunger and disease during the Great Irish Potato Famine, An Gorta Mor, and to commemorate the dedication and commitment of those Irish who made that great trek to the West, and lived out the remainder of their lives in Oregon.

Background: The objective of the Memorial is to promote awareness and understanding of the Irish Potato Famine, a devastating catastrophe that struck Ireland from 1845-1851. With the loss of its potato crop for five successive years, Ireland's rural population was driven to near extinction. One million died, while two million emigrated to save themselves from a similar fate. Most of those emigrants came to America.

Oregon: A great many Famine Irish traveled the Oregon Trail to Portland, or sailed by ship around the Horn. Census records show that between 1850 and 1880, the Irish were Portland's largest foreign born group, comprising almost ten percent of the City's population.

Fr. James Croke, a priest from Co. Cork, Ireland, built Portland's first Catholic Church, St. Mary's of the Immaculate Conception, in 1851. Stephen McCormick, a native of Dublin, became the first foreign-born Mayor of Portland in 1859. Today the remains of Portland's pioneer Irish rest at Mount Calvary Cemetery.

Memorial Design: The proposed Irish Famine Memorial will be a reproduction of the Cross of the Scriptures, a Celtic High Cross, located at the monastic ruins of Clonmacnoise, Co. Offaly, Ireland. A Celtic Cross design was chosen for the Memorial because it symbolizes Ireland's contribution to world history and western civilization. The Celtic Cross is also a potent symbol of Ireland's sovereignty, similar to the shamrock and the harp.

Clonmacnoise monastery was founded in the sixth century along the banks of the River Shannon by Saint Ciaran. The cross itself was erected sometime in the ninth century by Ri Flann, the High King of Ireland. Standing almost thirteen feet tall, it is one of Ireland's greatest treasures.

Cost and Construction: The proposed Irish Famine Memorial will be made in Ireland by a Stone Sculptor using only hand tools in a centuries old tradition, and shipped to Oregon. The cost to complete the project is estimated between $230,000 and $250,000. Please consider donating. You can help make this Memorial a reality.