Literature and Art from Great Irish Hunger in Library

An Gorta Mor -- The Great Hunger, believed to be America's most extensive collection of art and literature from Ireland's Great Famine, is on display in the Lender Family Special Collection Room of the Arnold Bernhard Library.

The collection features three oil paintings and a monoprint by Padraic Reaney and the sculpture of John Behan of the Royal Hibernian Academy, whose work representing the hope of the emigrant has been displayed in the United Nations; and a moving piece called "The Leave Taking" by Margaret Lyster Chamberlain of Massachusetts, among others. An original version of Rowan Gillespie's "The Victim" is also on display.

From 1845 to 1850, 1.5 million Irish men, women and children either starved to death or died from complications caused by the Great Hunger. More than two million others left Ireland between 1845 to 1855 to avoid death, disease and destitution.

An Gorta Mor also has an extensive group of books, some extremely rare, bearing accounts of The Great Hunger, and descriptive panels portraying impressions of that tragic time.

The Lender Family of Woodbridge, Conn., donated the room. Murray Lender, an alum, is a member of the Board of Trustees.

The Arnold Bernhard Library is open Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to midnight; Fridays, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Sundays, noon to midnight*. For more information, call 203-582-8634.

*Hours are subject to change, especially during holidays and University breaks. Please call to confirm hours.

Click here for a listing of the entire Hunger Room collection.
Click here for a listing of an online digitized collection of Irish History