The Irish Famine Immigrant Experience on Staten Island:
A Lecture with Loretto Leary
Friday, February 20th
6:30pm
Doors open at 6:00pm
In the wake of the Great Irish Famine, thousands of men, women, and children crossed the Atlantic in search of survival and opportunity. For many, the Port of New York represented the promise of a new beginning. Yet for countless others, it marked the tragic end of their journey.
At the Staten Island Marine Hospital and Quarantine Station—now the site of the Staten Island Ferry Terminal—thousands of famine immigrants perished shortly after arrival. Their suffering and resilience are commemorated in two nearby burial grounds that remain vital to understanding this chapter of Irish and American history.
Join Loretto Leary on Friday, February 20th at the Maine Irish Heritage Center at 6:30 PM for an illuminating exploration of Staten Island’s profound connection to the Irish Famine immigrant story and the enduring legacy of those who never reached the lives they dreamed of.
About the Speaker:
Loretto Horrigan Leary, originally from Portumna, County Galway, has made her home in Connecticut for over three decades. A seasoned educator, she has taught Language Arts at the elementary and middle school levels in Darien, New Canaan, Norwalk, and Stamford.
As a freelance journalist, her writing has appeared in publications such as The Irish Echo, Irish Central, Irish Examiner USA, and Australia’s Irish Scene.
Currently, Loretto serves as Educational and Cultural Director of Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum of Fairfield and is also Co-Chair of the Connecticut–Ireland Trade Commission.
Loretto is pursuing her PhD at Trinity College Dublin, where her research focuses on Irish American Famine memory and the memorial landscapes of New York, with particular attention to Staten Island’s role in this transatlantic story of loss, survival, and remembrance.