Boston Irish Famine Memorial

For such a large group of immigrants to come into Boston (my husband’s family included), this piece seems woefully lacking. It was fun to stumble on it, but it literally felt like that. We had no idea there was anything in Boston remembering this event.
Two small plaques explain what this is, otherwise we might have easily passed it up thinking it was for the holocaust or something.
It’s not terrible, but it’s not great.

Auch in Boston befindet sich ein Denkmal, das an die große irische Hungersnot von 1845 — 1849 gedenkt. Es ist das «Boston Irish Famine Memorial», das sich an der Ecke Washington und School Street befindet.
Während der irischen Hungersnot, die durch die Kartoffelfäule und mehrfacher Kartoffel-​Missernten ausgelöst wurde, sind über 1 Million Iren gestorben. Viele Iren sind in dieser Zeit nach Amerika ausgewandert, im Jahre 1847 sind allein in Boston 37.000 irische Flüchtlinge eingetroffen.
Das Denkmal besteht aus zwei gegenüberliegenden Skulpturen und eine steinerne Gedenktafel. Im Boden ist ein Bronzeschild eingelassen. Darüber hinaus kann man auf weiteren 8 Gedenktafeln die damaligen Geschehnisse nachlesen.
Das Denkmal wurde vom Künstler Robert Shure entworfen und vom «Boston Irish Famine Memorial Committee» und der Stadt Boston in Auftrag gegeben.
Das Denkmal wurde am 28. Juni 1998 im Rahmen des 150. jährigen Jubiläums des «Great Hunger» eingeweiht.

You can review a piece of public art? I wish I’d known this sooner!
This is perhaps one of the most atrocious displays of public art I have ever seen in my life. It has no nuance, no symbolism, there’s no room for interpretation by the viewer or any chance of coming to different conclusions about the meaning and message… it just hits you with a sledge hammer and screams «DO YOU GET IT? IT’S NOT TOO SUBTLE, IS IT?»
That’s not how public art should be. I’m sorry to sound like a snob but this is the kind of «art» that appeals to people that don’t know anything about art and lack the intellectual curiosity to reflect on it and try to deduce the artist’s intent, like the people that couldn’t understand how you could build a Vietnam Memorial without having a statue of a soldier. And in «the Athens of America,» to design art that appeals to the lowest common denominator is an embarrassment. We can do better than this abomination.

This parklet (mini park) is a thought-​provoking and moving reminder of the Irish potato famine. It’s a tiny oasis of deep thought in the midst of Boston’s hustle and bustle. While it’s a bit strange that the description is broken into 8 separate signs, I learned a lot and felt intensely connected to my ancestors.

A tiny oasis in the middle of the bustle of Downtown Crossing. The two statues depict the plight of the Irish back in the late 19^th and early 20^th century.
The area is open but also enclosed by a curved wall/​bench. It’s very thought provoking as well as a perfect easily located central meeting point for a family tour of downtown Boston.

I dont understand the negative reviews of the statue. Its meant to be a historical statue to make us remember the irish famine, which was a major turning point in the Irish coming to Boston. Why should a horrible event in our history have a positive statue? its mean to be horrendous to remind us of what happened. Its not meant to be a happy nor friendly statue. The statue itself is well designed and I never have a problem with it, though most people think I’m weird and different. So what. I’m from Boston. deal with it =) If you don’t like the unusual and different from the norm Boston isn’t the city for you =)

A hideous statue that is one of the worse (if not the worst) memorials in Boston.

I’m mostly posting this review because I saw this symbolized as a park on Google and want to warn tourists that they shouldn’t bother — it’s not really a park. It’s more like a statue that guards the entrance to a Borders book store. For real parks, try the delightful and closeby Post Office Square (
) or Boston Common.

Boston’s attempts at public art are woefully inadequate. This town is resplendent with ugly artworks, and ugly buildings. City Hall, anyone?
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This particular piece of «art» is just horrendous, and my least favorite in town. Made up of 2 pieces, one showing an emaciated family and the other, a rather happy and healthy one, this «artwork» is just plain ugly. I can’t imagine who thought this was a good idea, or how much it cost the taxpayers to install. Boston, I am disappointed in you. Again.

Is it wrong that this statue reminds me of the episode of Arrested Development when GOB and Steve Holt meet at the missing fathers retreat, next to the statue with the kid holding a severed hand? Because it does.
In theory, this should be in a place that’s more exposed to the outside world. The Washington St. area, with its practical enclosure due to the large buildings surrounding it, adds a dark ambiance to an already dark period in Irish history. Plopped outside the Borders, it’s more of a curiosity than anything else, a wonderment of why those people look so sad, when the brass statues in other squares just kind of look indifferent.
So, it’s already in a weird place and it reminds me of an episode of a TV show (albeit a good one). It is a part of my heritage, or possibly just half of it (the other half might be English, so I might actually be oppressing myself here… sweet: D). So for that, it gets 3 stars, and the hope that people realize it’s there, and it’s not just annoyed and sad brass people that randomly drifted out of the Borders after trying to fight through a line of «Twilight» fans.

What I don’t understand is why none of the statues have shoes. Wouldn’t the half of the statues that are making it in America have shoes?
The pigeons adore these statues, that poor woman almost always has one on her head and hands… and lots of pigeon pooh on them, yuck.
Not the best statues or memorial that Boston could have offered for this immigrant group.

FAMINE MEMORIAL
outside the Borders in front of it. This could be a great place to hang out and eat a Chacarero and enjoy the fresh air but the BRA that’s Boston Redevelopment Authority thought that this freakish statue would be better. I mean I get that this is an Irish city with the Celts uniforms and Southie and all the Bulgers and irish pubs every foot but come on! This is silly. It looks like a couple of half starved, half dressed people on Star Trek who were frozen by the giants with the death ray. The woman is on her knees with arms raised begging to a God who apparently ain’t listening. It is very disturbing and out of place. No artistic value at all. Even the Holocaust memorial in front of Faneuil Hall left actual suffering Jews out of it. I mean we don’t need to see them suffering to empathize. Here is alink. scroll down through all the beauty in Boston and tell me when you get to the famine memorial you don’t go, «hey whoah wait a minute, that’s not right.»