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MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS due July 1st
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The GIFCC advises that preparation for the 2023 International Famine Memorial in Sydney on 21st July 2023 is currently underway. We look forward to seeing you at this event! See here for details
Welcome
Irish
Famine Memorial
The monument was inspired by the arrival in Australia of over 4,000 single young women, most of whom were teenagers. They arrived under a special emigration scheme designed to resettle destitute girls from the workhouses of Ireland during the Great Famine. The Great Irish Famine Commemoration Committee (GIFCC) have broadened their activities to commemorate all who left their homes seeking a new life in the colonies and States of Australia but these workhouse orphan girls, and the historical links back to Ireland, remain the focus of this project and only young women from the workhouses under Earl Grey’s Orphans scheme appear in the database. The three images above the website link were supplied to Trevor McClaughlin in the 1990s and are Mary Ann Ryan per Elgin to Adelaide (left) and one of her children (right) with Ann Brady per Tippoo Saib in the centre.
This website introduces you to the monument itself, to this particular emigration scheme which operated between 1848 & 1850, to the women themselves and the ships on which they travelled. It is designed to be an motivating and rewarding experience for anyone interested in Irish history and genealogy or the broader issues related to famine, displacement and immigration no matter where in the Irish ‘diaspora’ you may reside. The website was initially set up by Dr Trevor McClaughlin and we are grateful for him allowing us to use the information contained in his two volumes of Barefoot & Pregnant? Irish Famine orphans in Australia, Genealogical Society of Victoria, Melbourne, 1991 and 2001 and for the work he and Jennifer Bainbridge did on the first version of this website.
We acknowlege funding assistance from the Irish Government’s Emigrant Support Programme in 2011, 2013 2017 and 2020
The Australian Monument to the Great Irish Famine (1845-1852) is located at the Hyde Park Barracks, on Macquarie Street, Sydney,
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Recent news
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2023 International Famine Memorial – 21st July 2023
01/07/2023GIFCC are delighted to announce that Sydney has been selected as the location for the International Famine Memorial for 2023. Each year one location is chosen within Ireland with another selected overseas – this year we have been chosen. An Irish Minister will be in attendance to represent the Irish... -
2022 GIFCC Annual Commemoration Ceremony Programme
19/08/2022 -
Memberships – renewals are now due!
20/07/2022Have you renewed your GIFCC Membership? Or would you like to become a member? The Committee would like to thank all those who have renewed their membership this year and very special thanks to those who have added a donation. Memberships are essential for GIFCC Inc’s Department of Fair Trading compliance, participation and...
