Irish Famine Immigrants — Sunday, November 16 · 2:00 p.m.
Stratford Library Lovell Room, 2203 Main Street, Stratford • Free and open to the public
The Stratford Library will continue its “Sunday Afternoon Talks” series with “The Irish Famine Immigrants of Connecticut” on Sunday, November 16 at 2:00 p.m. Presented by Loretto Horrigan Leary on behalf of Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum of Fairfield, the program is free and open to all.
Leary will offer a compelling visual and historical presentation exploring the journeys of Irish immigrants who fled Ireland during An Gorta Mór (The Great Hunger) and began new lives in Connecticut. Blending archival research, personal stories, and historical context, the talk highlights resilience, survival, and community-building, and features artwork from The Great Hunger Collection, whose sculptures and paintings add emotional depth to the narrative.
About the Speaker: Loretto Horrigan Leary, born in Portumna, County Galway, has lived in Connecticut for 32 years. A seasoned educator, she has taught Language Arts in Darien, New Canaan, Norwalk, and Stamford, and her journalism has appeared in publications including Celtic Life, The Irish Echo, Irish Central, Australia’s Irish Scene, The Connaught Tribune, and The Wild Geese. She is pursuing a PhD at Trinity College Dublin focusing on Irish American Famine memories and the Irish Famine Memorial in New York.
The “Sunday Afternoon Talks” series, hosted by Charles Lautier of Stratford, runs 2:00–3:30 p.m. in the Lovell Room. For more information, visit stratfordlibrary.org or call 203-385-4162.
