National Famine Museum/Strokestown Park
29th May – 1st June 2025
Join us at the 2025 Famine Summer School for stimulating talks from leading academics and live performances exploring the legacy of the Irish Famine of the 1840s
The theme of the 2025 Famine Summer School is “Humanitarianism and Hunger”.
From Indigenous and settler communities in North America to India and the Sultanate of Ottoman Empire, as well as Great Britain and in Ireland, private individuals and groups across class divides raised funds and risked their lives in a humanitarian response to Ireland’s Great Hunger (1845-1852) that often contrasted with official responses. The 2025 Famine Summer School explores the comparisons and contrasts between the historical context and the challenges of humanitarian responses to the Great Hunger and famines in the world.
About the Famine Summer School
The Irish Famine Summer School is an annual international conference that explores the history and impact of An Gorta Mór.
It brings together leading Famine scholars to share their ideas and research and is an opportunity to exhibit work from talented artists and playwrights who have been inspired to create work based on the Famine.
Click HERE to view the 2025 Famine Summer School Programme
Key Speakers and Contributors to this year’s event
Jean-Martin Bauer is a lifelong aid worker, with over twenty years of experience combating hunger in West Africa, Central Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean. He holds degrees from the London School of Economics and Harvard Kennedy School, and his work is highlighted in his book, “The New Breadline,” which explores systemic factors contributing to global hunger.
Michael Kennedy is the CEO of Ireland Lacrosse. In 2020, Ireland Lacrosse voluntarily withdrew from the International World Games and ceded their place to the Iroquois Nationals (now Haudenosaunee Nationals) so that they could compete instead. Although the Haudenosaunee had founded the sport of the Lacrosse and were one of the top ranked teams in the world, they had originally not been invited to the International World Games because of sovereignty issues. Ireland Lacrosse was the recipient of a Musial Award for outstanding sportsmanship for its selfless gesture.
Professor Mark G McGowan is a Professor of History and Celtic Studies and Principal Emeritus at St. Michael’s College, University of Toronto. He has published extensively on the religious and emigration history of Canada, and the history of the Irish community in Canada.
Professor Christine Kinealy is the Director of Ireland’s Great Hunger Institute and Professor of History at Quinnipiac University. She has published extensively on the Great Hunger and on the abolition movement in Ireland.
Professor Gillian O’Brien (Liverpool John Moore’s University) is co-Principal Investigator of the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funded Sharing Lands: Recognition, Reconciliation, Reciprocity Research Group.
Dr Eamonn McKee is Chief of Protocol in the Department of Foreign Affairs. He is the former Ambassador of Ireland to Canada (2020-2024).
Professor LeAnne Howe (Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, University of Georgia) is a member of the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funded Sharing Lands: Recognition, Reconciliation, Reciprocity Research Group.
Caroilin Callery is recognised for her work in establishing the National Famine Way and building connections between the National Famine Museum and international universities and institutions. She is a Director of the Westward Group.
Tom Arnold is Chair, Ireland Africa Rural Development Committee (IARDC). He is a former CEO of Concern Worldwide. He was a member of the Irish Hunger Task Force and of the UN Millennium Project Hunger Task Force.
Peter Kinch is a best-selling author based in Vancouver. He will read from his new novel Once We Were Kings. Steeped in history, it offers an epic tale of love, courage, resilience and fate. The book features a family whose ancestry stretches back to the Chieftains and Kings of Connacht but find themselves in a frantic fight for survival during the peak of Ireland’s ‘Great Hunger’ in 1847.
Dr Padraig Kirwan (Goldsmiths, University of London) is Principal Investigator of the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funded Sharing Lands: Recognition, Reconciliation, Reciprocity Research Group.
The 2025 Famine Summer School is held in partnership with Ireland’s Great Hunger Institute at Quinnipiac University and Sharing Lands: Reconciliation, Recognition & Reciprocity
