☘️ The Irish Famine Immigrant Experience in North American Quarantines

Please join members and friends of the Museum of Newport Irish History for the 2nd talk of its 25th Annual Lecture Series with Loretto Horrigan Leary, whose lecture is titled:
  The Irish Famine Immigrant Experience in North American Quarantines 
            
The talk with Q&A to follow will be presented at 6:00 p.m. in-person at the Wyndham Newport Hotel and live-streamed via Zoom.

• Doors open at 5:30 pm
• Light hors d’oeuvres & cash bar available
• $10 per person fee to attend in person (cash or check @ door).
• No fee/$0 to participate via Zoom.

Reservations are required for both in-person and virtual participation:

CLICK to reserve IN-PERSON:  tinyurl.com/InPersonReser
CLICK to participate via ZOOM:  tinyurl.com/ZoomReser

Questions/Assistance with Reservations:
Please write Ann at NewportIrishHistory@gmail.com or phone (401) 841-5493.  Note: If you are hosting a group of 4 or more and would like to pay by card, please contact Ann at least 24 hours BEFORE the event to make arrangements. Cards not accepted at the door.

TALK OVERVIEW:
Irish Famine immigrants did not simply arrive in North America; many first endured quarantine on islands, fever hospitals, and medical inspections, with some never leaving. They died on site and remain in the burial grounds associated with the quarantines.

This presentation examines the human experience of Famine migration through sites such as Staten Island, Grosse Île, and Deer Island, where hunger, disease, survival, public fear, and memory shaped the immigrant journey. From overcrowded ships to quarantine wards and mass graves, these sites reveal how the Great Hunger, a hunger to survive on foreign shores, persisted across the Atlantic.

GUEST SPEAKER BIO:
LORETTO HORRIGAN LEARY is an Irish historian, researcher, and freelance journalist from Portumna, County Galway, now based in Connecticut. She is a PhD student in History at Trinity College Dublin, researching sites of collective memory associated with the Great Irish Famine in North America, with a particular focus on Staten Island’s burial grounds. She also serves as Co-Chair of the Connecticut–Ireland Trade Commission.

Her article, “Irish Domestic Servants and the Making of Gilded Age America,” appeared in the September/October 2026 issue of History Ireland. Her work has also been published by the Irish Examiner USA, Irish Central, Celtic Life International, Australia’s Irish Scene, The Connacht Tribune, and other publications. In 2026, she created the free online course “The Great Irish Famine: History, Diaspora, and Global Legacy.” Through her research, writing, and lectures, Loretto connects academic scholarship with public history and community engagement.
(Click here for more complete Bio: tinyurl.com/LearyBio

SERIES SPONSORS: For a list of our generous 25th Annual Lecture Series sponsors, please visit:  newportirishhistory.org/lectures/

ABOUT THE MUSEUM-Celebrating 30 years
The Museum of Newport Irish History, a volunteer-driven, non-profit 501c3 organization, was founded in 1996 and now boasts over 900 members. In addition to operating an Interpretive Center on Lower Thames Street, the organization sponsors numerous educational, cultural, social, and fundraising events throughout the year, including its popular Annual Lecture Series, now in its 25th season. The organization also restored and maintains the historic Barney Street Cemetery at the corner of Barney and Mt. Vernon Streets, steps from Washington Square. It is the final resting place of many of Newport’s earliest Irish residents. The cemetery was established to support Rhode Island’s first Roman Catholic parish, the forerunner of the current Saint Mary’s Church at the corner of Spring Street and Memorial Boulevard.

To learn more or to join the Museum, please visit NewportIrishHistory.org or write us at newportirishhistory@gmaiLcom