Famine Painting by Rosemary Kavanagh O'Carroll in Museum of Newport Irish History

A historically significant  and haunting oil painting Rosemary Kavanagh O'Carroll created of her Great Great Grandmother Catherine Walsh Carroll who died during the Irish Famine will be on display indefinitely at the Museum of Newport Irish History on Lower Thames Street in Newport, RI. 'The Lady Who Paints' daughter Audrey O'Carroll posed for the painting. Rosemary's cottage in Ireland was coincidently just a few miles from her great great grandparents home. The detail of the painting is significant because a roofless cottage in the background is depicted. This was common during the time, being burned to the ground by the English landlords during the famine, when the starving Irish could not pay their rent, and were physically removed (evicted) from their homes. Blighted potatoes are depicted at her feet, which was their staple and main diet resource, after all dairy products, fish and meat (cattle, sheep and pigs) were shipped to England in order to feed the English and starve the Irish.