Oregon Potato Famine Memorial 15th Anniversary
Fifteen years ago, the President of Ireland traveled to Portland’s Mount Calvary Cemetery to dedicate the Oregon Potato Famine Memorial and its iconic Celtic Cross. It had been nearly a century since an Irish leader of that stature had come to Oregon.
On Wednesday, December 13, 2023 the Portland Hibernian Society hosted a ceremony commemorating the fifteenth anniversary of that dedication at Mt. Calvary Cemetery (333 SW Skyline Blvd.). Father Jim Galluzzo shared a blessing composed for the occasion, Brian Ó hAirt sang a song in Irish, Ed Curtin recalled the words of JFK to the Oireachtas 60 years ago, Stewart White sang The Soldier’s Song and Skibereen and Tim Birr played the bagpipes.
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In the summer of 2023, the newly appointed Consul General of Ireland on the West Coast, Micheal Smith, came to Portland to visit the Oregon Potato Famine Memorial.
Stewart White, Portland Fire and Rescue (Ret.), sang The Soldier’s Song at the fifteenth anniversary commemoration while Fr. Jim Galluzzo (r) listened.
Here’s the presentation given to familiarize Smith with its back story and the accomplishment this Memorial represents for local members of the Irish Diaspora.
“Welcome. Failte.To the Oregon Potato Famine Memorial here at Mount Calvary Cemetery. It was dedicated on December 13, 2008, by Mary McAleese, cousin of Kells owner Gerard McAleese and President of Ireland (1997 -2011).
To let you know how important this Memorial is to members of the Irish diaspora here in Oregon and SW Washington, you need to understand three elements of its story.
DONOR STONES
FIRST - Who’s represented here? These names at your feet. We are standing on a Who’s Who of our local Irish community. Together they donated thousands of dollars to help us make this memorial a reality.
ONLY IN PORTLAND, OREGON
SECOND - Other Famine memorials. It’s a source of hard- earned pride for the Hibernians who began late last century to get it built here that this is THE recognized Irish Famine Memorial on the West Coast.
VOLUNTEERS
THIRD - A brief version of the Origin Story. Historians talk about the value of PRIMARY SOURCES when it comes to telling stories. The primary movers behind the famine memorial are very much with us.
DONORS
Now, about the stones beneath our feet. To raise the funds to build the Memorial, organizers called on many members of the local Irish American community. The Memorial today is a testament to their generosity.
From the Famine Memorial Committee - David O’Longaigh Family. Mc Aleese Family. Peter and Sheila Cullen. Bruce and Jean Doherty Clan. Dan Holden Family. Are all represented.
A word or two about some of the other stones.
The O’Scannlain Family. Diarmuid O’Scannlain is the senior judge on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in SF. He is the son of a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood who fought in the Irish War of independence.
Mike and Mary Alice McMenamin Clan. Maybe you’ve heard of McMenamins - Brewpubs, breweries, concert halls, hotels, distilleries and more (a prohibitionist’s nightmare) - 63 locations in Oregon and Washington. The grandfather of the brothers Mike and Brian settled in Eastern Oregon in the 1920s to practice law. His parents had emigrated from County Tyrone.
Bill and Gail McCormick - Ever been to McCormick and Coletos in San Francisco? Bill McCormick got out of SF in the late 60s…came to Portland and bought and restored the classic Jakes Crawfish and went on to build a small empire of restaurants. Raised by a single mom in Rhode Island, Irish through and through.
The Bill Healy Foundation - Bill Healy was a member of the famed Tenth Mountain Division in Italy and Switzerland in WW2 … with Bob Dole and eventual Nike co -under Bill Bowerman. He came home and created Oregon’s number one ski area - Mount Bachelor. His son started Kettle Chips with potatoes grown nearby in Central Oregon.
Fred and Peggy Stickel and Family - Fred was publisher of The Oregonian from 1975 to 2009.
A number of Portland Hibernian Society members as well as the All Ireland Cultural Society are represented here. I want to mention one name in particular. Barry Glass. Native of Dublin. Jewish. Charter member of the AOH in 1998. Sgt at arms. His membership put us at odds with the National AOH Constitution, which limits membership to Catholic men of Irish descent. We are no longer not in compliance because we split off and formed our own inclusive Irish organization.
PEOPLE SAY REALLY?
When I tell them this is the only Irish famine memorial on the West Coast. That was the case when it was dedicated and that’s the case today. Other Irish Famine memorials in America. New York - 2002. Philadelphia 2003. Providence 2007. Chicago 1999. Boston 1998. The first - in 1997 - in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
So, how is it that Portland Oregon, not a hotbed for Irish immigration then or now, has one of the oldest and finest Irish Famine Memorials in America?
Because those committee members I’ve mentioned O’Longaigh, Cullen, Doherty, McAleese, Holden - made it happen. Fund raising began around the turn of the century, not long after a Famine anniversary was produced by David O’Longaigh and the local division of the AOH was formed.
By 2003 a contract had been signed with sculptor Brandon McGloin in Donegal. Planning began for a grand installation ceremony on Saint Patrick's Day in 2005. Optimistic? Yes.
In January 2006 volunteers from the AOH gathered here to dig the foundation for the Cross.
In 2007 parts of the Cross and the flagstones you’re standing on were shipped from Donegal.
In 2007 Planning began for a grand installation ceremony on Saint Patrick's Day in 2005. Optimistic? Yes.
In 2008 financial estimates were battered by unfavorable exchange rates. A plea to supporters to upgrade their donations went out.
In 2013 the big day arrived on December 13th.
Brian Ó hAirt sang an Irish song from the late 19th Century in Irish. Tim Birr (center) played the bagpipes. Sam Keator of AICS (r) stood by
“In a frigid but triumphant ceremony that started a wee late about 400 Oregonians endured a few moments of misery to honor their ancestral home’s most miserable of times: An Gorta Mor, the Great Famine.”