History plays a huge part in the appeal of any city. New York is certainly no exception. The sheer number of ethnicities in NYC is amazing. While you are exploring the other sites, you sure don't want to miss the Irish Hunger Memorial. Almost everyone has heard of the Irish Famine that began in 1846 and didn't end until 4 years later, in 1850. Thousands of Irish people lost their lives to starvation during those horrible years and the memorial was erected in their memory. New York tends to have a high number of Irish descent people, mostly due to this time period when record number of immigrants entered the United States through New York City. It seems only fitting that the monument itself is a roofless stone cottage imported to the site from County Mayo in Ireland. The cottage and other focal points in the gardens of the memorial also contain stones from each one of the 32 Irish counties.
As noted with the authentic cottage and stone assortment from around the Irish countryside, the Irish Hunger Memorial is rich in symbolism. That is apparently clear in the size of the park itself. The memorial land is only a half an acre. This was done intentionally as the Irish Poor Law stated that if any person owned more than a half an acre of land they were exempt from any aid or relief. Many people were forced to abandon their homes just to get some help during that difficult time. With 60 types of native Irish flora and plenty of great photo opportunities, the Irish Hunger Memorial really should be on your list of things to do while in NYC.
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