Monday, May 16, 2011

Perished

Until this Celtic Cross was erected in 1998 in a newly named An Gorta Mor Park in Kingston Ontario, there were no memorials to acknowledge the 1,500 who perished in Kingston after escaping the Great Irish Famine. Across the water is the wind farm of Wolfe Island where thousands of birds perish annually.

My World Tuesday

16 comments:

joco said...

A peaceful scene that belies its implications.
I am not familiar with what befell the Irish settlers on arrival.

Sylvia K said...

Sad, but beautiful place! Amazing that it took so long to erect a memorial! Wonderful capture for the day! Hope your week is off to a great start!

Sylvia

EG CameraGirl said...

I didn't know about the Kingston/ Irish famine connection.

Very sad about all the birds, that's for sure.

VioletSky said...

Neither did I really, until I looked into it further. Apparently, a mass grave was discovered on the grounds of the nearby hospital.

Photo Cache said...

a moving monument. so peaceful.

Pretty Life Online said...

what a calm place... perfect catch!!!! Have a great weekdays ahead!!! Hope to see you around.

Unknown said...

Beuatiful Cross and momument. That wind farm needs to be stopped. Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

Kay L. Davies said...

A most beautiful Celtic cross, a lovely and loving memorial to a very sad time.
It's dreadful about birds and wind farms. Wind power would seem, at first thought, to be a viable alternative to fossil fuels.
— K

Kay, Alberta, Canada
An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel

Irene said...

They all died on arrival? How did that happen? Were they that weak when they got there? The potato famine is a terrible page in Irish history.

Lew said...

A fitting memorial to those who perished. Unfortunately, many other Irish perished from Typhus at sea or upon arriving at their new homes.

VioletSky said...

These were people who died after surviving the trip over and later the time on Grosse Île (the quarantine site) mostly of typhoid as Lew mentions.

Martha Z said...

A lovely memorial. I was unaware of this part of the Irish Famine tragedy.
Birds vs turbines; fossil fuel vs global climate change; nuclear power vs radiation hazards; we are left with few options when we populate the world with so many people.

Anonymous said...

A gorgeous Celtic cross... rather sad to think that wind power, which is so good for the earth, is so damaging to the birds.

Unknown said...

this is a beautiful Celtic cross, and a lovely memorial. how horrible to die in a famine!

i love how you composed this shot.

snowwhite said...

Celtic cross has graceful beauty but its history is too sad.
I hope any method to avoid the death of birds will be found soon.
Have a nice day.

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

This post makes me cry. But at the same time I am glad you posted it. I wish I knew more about the famine escapees and why they perished AFTER they reached Ontario.

The birds -- I have read some things recently that the newer wind farms have figured out how to do what they do without killing birds -- but I wonder if this is true or just propaganda. We do need alternative energy sources (duh!) but we have to figue out how to do it without killing the migrating birds.

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