Memorials to those who suffered, died, or emigrated as a result of Ireland's “Great Hunger” (An Gorta Mór) of 1845‐1849, appear throughout the Republic: in artwork and sculpture at Dublin's Merrion Square, Custom House Quay, and airport; at the Famine Museum, County Roscommon; and in the National Famine Monument at the base of Croagh Patrick, which commemorates the death march of hundreds of Irish in County Mayo (Fitzgerald, 1998). An Gorta Mór, A Great Hunger Archive, presents a digital memorial, in multiple media, to the horrendous years of the “Irish potato famine”. Hosted by Quinnipiac University (QU) and Ireland's Kerry County Library, the site launched in spring 2005 (Ballard, 2007). There is a straightforward organization to the homepage, with four major groupings of resources: Minute Books, QU Collection, Other Resources, and People. As there is no search engine or help menu for the site, users must explore each grouping by its respective drop‐down menu.
The site is a gateway to many resources, and this review describes four of the collections in some detail. A striking collection of primary source material is the Board of Guardians Minute Books for the Killarney District, County Kerry, during the famine years 1845‐1848. These are scans (PDF) of the handwritten records of the workhouse, a destination for many poor and landless Irish during the Great Hunger. Introduction to the Minute Books explains: the duties of the Guardians and the specific agenda of their weekly meetings; the limitations of the scanned pages; and the html pages that abstract the content and highlight the key statistics of each record. The collection is a work in progress, with ongoing additions of both abstract and digitized Killarney Workhouse pages, and with anticipated additions of records from the workhouse in Kenmare, County Kerry (Ballard, 2007). The scanned workhouse pages are somewhat difficult to read on a computer screen, partly due to nineteenth‐century handwriting styles. While navigation between the scanned images and the html pages is not seamless, neither is it overly difficult. Minute books for two towns in County Clare also are available through this archive, specifically the Ennistymon Union Minute Books (1839‐1850) and the Kilrush Union Minute Book (1849 only). A series of html pages present transcriptions from the record books, work of North Clare Historical Society and hosted by the Clare County Library (www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/history/minutes/minutes.htm), perhaps making them less valuable as primary sources. However, the Ennistymon and Kilrush collections each have an introductory section, and streamlined navigation between main menus and individual entries. The archive does not specifically address the choices of these towns' records for preservation; however, historians document that the residents of these two counties suffered severely during the famine years (Woodham‐Smith, 1962).
The QU Collection contains the second and third noteworthy set of resources. There is a rich resource of 18 digitized books, spanning from 1838 to 1905, and penned by Irish, English or American authors. A particularly valuable famine history resource is Transactions of the Central Relief Committee of the Society of Friends during the Famine in Ireland, in 1846 and 1847; the Quakers were instrumental in providing food and other aid to the starving Irish. QU anticipates adding up to six digitized titles annually (Ballard, 2007). At the bottom of the list of digitized books, there is a link to the Virtual Tour of the Lender Family Special Collection that is not active. One can access this third unique collection at the Artwork link under QU Collection; it presents images of emotionally wrenching sculptures with the unifying theme of the Great Hunger.
The fourth highlighted resource, accessed from the archive's homepage, is a multimedia (Breeze) production, by QU, of the Killarney Board of Guardians Minute Books 1845‐1846. In approximately 12 minutes of narration, music, and images, the presentation provides a glimpse of the impact of the potato blight on the inhabitants of County Kerry. It is a stark, melancholy narrative of the first year of the famine in one locale, made more poignant by a viewer's knowledge that many people mentioned in the workhouse record did not survive the years of the Great Hunger. QU plans additional multimedia selections in the future (Ballard, 2007).
The groupings Other Resources and People carry useful information and links, most originating from sources other than QU. There are 16 web links listed under Other Resources, all but one of which (Vassar's “Views of the Famine”) are live; the list includes “Ask About Ireland”, the Republic's national digitization effort, which provides additional access to archival materials. There also are links to seven e‐texts, but two of these (A Lecture on the Antecedent Causes of the Irish Famine in 1847 and History of the Great Irish Famine) are not accessible. Fortunately, the link to the 1855 volume Annals of the Famine in Ireland is live. Finally, under People, there are resources about Gerry Adams of Sinn Fein, Betty Williams, and Malachy McCourt, but their connection to famine history is unclear.
Although the archive is not comprehensive – if that is even a possibility – it makes available valuable resources that, in some cases, would require travel to QU or to Ireland to access. The offerings at An Gorta Mór are not elementary or introductory in nature, but the site is recommended for researchers in Irish studies, genealogy, history, and sociology studying in academic, special, or public library settings.
