Hyde Park Barracks, Irish Famine Memorial
The Australian Monument to the Great Irish Famine (1845-1852) is located at the Hyde Park Barracks, along Macquarie Street. The Hyde Park Barracks were originally built to house male convicts in 1818 but were adapted in 1848 to house refugees. The monument commemorates a special emigration scheme designed to resettle over 4,000 destitute girls from the workhouses of Ireland in Australia between 1848 and 1850. This memorial features a dislocated sandstone wall and two glass panels inscribed with the names of 400 of these girls. A table cast in bronze, split in two on either side of the wall, has a simple table with a bowl on one end and a simple institutional table setting with utensils on the other end. It represents an element of continuity and a link between the two sides of the lives of those who immigrated.
It must be interesting to browse those names. History usually fascinates.
ReplyDeleteThat is such a intriguing tribute to this awful event...
ReplyDeleteA creative design to capture one's attention - art is an extremely powerful tool. Warm regards
ReplyDeletewhat an interesting sculptural reminder of hunger… beautiful photos.
ReplyDeleteI think the simple institutional table also represented the bleak hopeless lives these girls had led, a baseline from which their lives could only improve in the new world. I hope it did.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful memorial.... It represents well the history...
ReplyDeleteSo interesting - such a moving memorial. Your photos are beautiful!
ReplyDeleteA well-captured image for the Weekend Reflections meme, Jim.
ReplyDeleteThe memorial seems to be very well-thought out.
Australia has such a unique history.
ReplyDeleteA beautifully designed, moving memorial, well-placed in a park where people have time to notice and reflect.
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