Only one mural on the subject of the Great Hunger (An Gorta Mór, An tOcras Mór, An Drochshaol, the famine) is recorded prior to 1995:
1993 “The Irish Holocaust” on the Springfield Road
1995 was the 150th anniversary of the onset of the potato blight. According to Niamh O’Sullivan in the Irish Times, the 1995 anniversary was when “the image caught up with history” and the hunger/famine was first seriously reckoned with in Irish art generally. Photography was still in its infancy in 1850 and would not appear in newspapers until the 1880s (LoC). Instead, newspapers used illustrations to bring their stories to life. The most commonly used illustrations are those that appeared in the Illustrated London News. (For a catalogue of famine images at the time and in the decardes afterwards, including ILN images and articles, see Views Of The Famine.)
At least nine murals were painted in Belfast to commorate the event:
1995 “An tOcras Mór” on the New Lodge Road (painted by Farset Artists Collection) including (left-most and right-most figures) Searching For Potatoes In A Stubble Field (from ILN)
1995 “Ireland’s Holocaust” on the Whiterock Road (painted by Mo Chara) including (above) Begging At Clonakilty (ILN), (left) Boy And Girl At Cahera (ILN), (right) Searching For Potatoes In A Stubble Field (ILN)
1995 “Nature sent the potato blight, government & landlords created the famine” in Lenadoon Avenue (painted by a Short Strand artist and Cormac)
1995 “Weary People, What Reap Ye?” in St James’s Crescent, with a parallel to the treatment of native Australians.
1995 “Emigration Ship” on Oakman Street (Beechmount) based on The Embarkation, Waterloo Docks Liverpool (ILN).
1995 “Victoria By The Seaside” in Linden Street (lower Falls) by Rosie McGurran
1995 “There Was No Famine” in the middle Falls, including Bridget O’Donnel And Children (ILN).
1995 “Gorta Mór” in Rossnareen, including Bridget O’Donnel And Children (ILN).
1995 “Witness To The Great Hunger” in Slemish Way (Andersonstown)
Murals Painted After 1995
After 1995, the Hunger became an occasional theme in CNR muraling.
?1996? Eviction and emigration scenes on board in Thames St
?1997? “They Buried Us Without Shroud Nor Coffin” in Ardoyne Avenue, including (left) Begging At Clonkilty (ILN) and (right) Funeral At Skibbereen (ILN).
?2000? Emigration Ship
2002 “They Buried Us Without Shroud Or Coffin” in Ardoyne Avenue, including (from left to right) The Ejectment, The Day After The Ejectment, The Embarkation, Waterloo Docks Liverpool, all from ILN.
2011 “The Mass Graves Of Ireland” on the (upper) Springfield Road (painted by Mo Chara)
2011 Bridget O’Donnel And Children (ILN) was included on the hoarding around An Cultúrlann construction.
2012 “The Famine Window” in Belfast City Hall, in memory of “those citizens of Belfast who died as a result of Typhus and Cholera in the years 1846, 1847 and 1848.”
2015 “In Search Of A Better Life” in Crocus Street
“Stars, Look Down/A Réaltaí, Féachaíg’ Anuas” in William Street, Derry by OMIN, including The Battering Ram, a photograph from 1888.
2019 “Thousands Are Sailing” in Great James Street, Derry, by Shane O’Malley
2021 “Genocide In Ireland” in Ard An Lao, Belfast. Including (from left to right): Family Being Evicted From Their Home In Rural Ireland, Searching For Potatoes In A Stubble Field (ILN), and food arriving from the USA in the famine of 1879-1880.
Key to reference numbers. Thanks to all of the following for the use of their images.
D = squire93@hotmail.com
M = Peter Moloney Collection – Murals
T = Paddy Duffy
X = Extramural Activity
Copyright © 2023 Extramural Activity. Images are copyright of their respective photographers.
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