Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum at Quinnipiac University will host “The Magic and Music of Ireland,” a program designed to introduce children to Irish culture, from 1-2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 9. The program is free and open to the public.
Irish-born folk singer Tom O’Carroll and his wife, Debbie, a magician and actress, will use music, stage magic, songs, poetry, stories, props and costumes to educate children about the history, art, language and social customs of the Emerald Isle.
The program is for children between the ages of 4-14. All children who attend must be accompanied by an adult. Space is limited. Reservations are required.
For more information or to register, please call 203-582-6500 or email [email protected].
Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum, located at 3011 Whitney Ave., is home to the world’s largest collection of visual art, artifacts and printed materials relating to the Irish Famine. The museum preserves, builds and presents its art collection in order to stimulate reflection, inspire imagination and advance awareness of Ireland’s Great Hunger and its long aftermath on both sides of the Atlantic.
The collection focuses on the famine years from 1845-52, when blight destroyed virtually all of Ireland’s potato crops for consecutive years. The crop destruction, coupled with British governmental indifference to the plight of the Irish, who at the time were part of the United Kingdom, resulted in the deaths of more than 1 million Irish men, women and children and the emigration of more than 2 million to nations around the world. This tragedy occurred even though there was more than adequate food in the country to feed its starving populace. Exports of food and livestock from Ireland actually increased during the years of the Great Hunger.
Works by noted contemporary Irish artists are featured at the museum including internationally known sculptors John Behan, Rowan Gillespie and Eamonn O’Doherty; as well as contemporary visual artists, Robert Ballagh, Alanna O’Kelly Brian Maguire and Hughie O’Donoghue. Featured paintings include several important 19th and 20th‐century works by artists such as James Brenan, Daniel MacDonald, James Arthur O’Connor and Jack B. Yeats.
The museum is open Wednesdays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursdays 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Sundays 1-5 p.m.