St. Mary's Cathedral Killarney, Ireland

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Our taxi driver, Charlie O'Leary, gave us some information about St. Mary's Cathedral in Killarney as we drove by. He told us that 600 children were buried on church grounds who were victims of the great famine. St. Mary's operated as a famine relief center. A family immigrating to Ireland to make a new start soon lost their child to the great famine of 1840's. The father planted an American Redwood tree that still stands today to honor his child.

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Photos

Killarney, Ireland
St. Mary's Cathedral

Killarney, Ireland
St. Mary's Cathedral Tree

Comments

[Jeanne]

The memorial stone in the church yard at St.Mary's commemorating "The Unknown Children who died here".
Thank you so much for explaining about the grievous child starvation victims. My husband and I read the memorial stone at St. Mary's but didn't know the magnitude of the tragedy in Killarney or who the monument was dedicated to. Interesting that it was your cab driver who made you aware of the history at St. Mary's, we found that much of Ireland's history and genealogy was conveyed to us by our cab drivers too!