Irish Hunger Memorial

The Irish Hunger Memorial is a memorial and park in Battery Park City, Manhattan, built on an artificial hillside that rises across more than half an acre. Visitors walk along limestone paths, past stones from all 32 Irish counties, and through a reconstructed cottage overlooking the Hudson River.

The site opened in 2002 to remember the famine between 1845 and 1852, triggered by the failure of the potato crop. More than one million Irish people died from starvation and disease, while another million emigrated to countries including the United States.

The original cottage doorway from County Mayo leads visitors through low-ceilinged rooms with packed earth floors and an open hearth, just as Irish tenant farmers lived during the 19th century. Grasses and wildflowers that still grow along Ireland's western coast cover the outer walls.

Access from Vesey Street is open daily, with no admission fee. Text projections and audio installations at the base of the hillside provide context about the famine and its worldwide impact.

The entire hillside rests on a cantilevered steel frame above glass and fossilized limestone, allowing visitors to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island from the raised vantage point. Below the slope, light projections illuminate the geological layers and remind visitors that many famine survivors spent their first night in America at that very spot.

Location: Manhattan

Inception: 2002

Website: http://bpcparks.org/whats-here/parks/irish-hunger-memorial

GPS coordinates: 40.71514,-74.01653

Latest update: December 5, 2025 22:26