BLACK '47, the year when the Great Irish Famine was at its worst, is the focus of a series of lectures for Transition Year students, currently running at the Ilac Centre, Dublin. Organised by the Dublin Heritage Group to commemorate the Famine, the talks are running twice daily in the lecture room of the Central Library at the Ilac Centre at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., until the end of the month.
The Dublin Heritage Group has organised a programme of events to mark the centenary of 1847. Anyone who goes along to the lecture can also avail of the chance to view an exhibition, entitled Beef Steaks and Oyster Sauce as Usual Aspects of the Great Famine, which has been organised to commemorate the famine. Visitors will also receive a free copy of Famine Times, an eight-page newspaper, which has been published to coincide with the exhibition. The newspaper contains a series of articles by well-known historians, development organisations and journalists.
The lectures will address historical questions such as how one million people died of hunger and related diseases over seven years of the famine, and why one million people emigrated in the 1840s. Topical questions about how there are now over 1,000 million people suffering from chronic hunger in the world today and how 35,000 people die of hunger and related disease every 24 hours will be discussed.
Transition Year teachers/ co-ordinators can pre-book for groups of students by contacting the Dublin Heritage Group at (01) 4562528. There is no admission charge. It is advisable to be at the library about 30 minutes before the lecture as there is a work-sheet to fill out and a tour of the exhibition.
