In 2005, almost 1,000 human remains of women, men and children were unearthed adjacent to the buildings of the former Kilkenny Union Workhouse, now MacDonagh Shopping Centre. It was described by archaeologists and experts as “the most significant find in the world relating to the Irish Famine”.
It is the biggest mass burial site in Europe belonging to this time, ever to be uncovered and it spurred a series of ground breaking research programmes. The results offered new insights into the lives of Irish people in the 1840’s, one of Ireland’s bleakest periods.
The final stop on the Kilkenny Famine Experience will be the resting place of the Kilkenny famine victims in the Memorial Garden Crypt at MacDonagh Junction, which has been enhanced by a special sculpture, crafted by Ani Mollereau. The sculpture depicts the story of two young brothers, John and Patrick Saul who presented at the doors of the Workhouse in 1842 after being abandoned by their parents on the Dublin docks and were on foot travelling back home to Clonmel.
The fingerprints of almost 1000 historians, researchers, genealogists, people connected to the Workhouse, the local Kilkenny community and the diaspora, etched in brass plating have been unveiled on the limestone crypt as part of a special year-long community reconnection project. Each participant has been directly linked to one of the famine victims of Kilkenny Union Workhouse in a bid to remember them as individuals and bring them back into living memory.
The project has received funding supports from MacDonagh Junction Shopping Centre, Minister Heather Humphreys, Department of Culture, Heritage and The Gaeltacht, Creative Ireland, The Heritage Council and Kilkenny County Council. The Kilkenny Famine Experience is free and bookings are available from November 8th. - (
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Plaque on Wall:
The Kilkenny Famine remains were returned from the National Museum of Ireland and interred at this crypt on the 19th May 2010 following an ecumenical religious service with a military colour party from James Stephens Barracks and Kilkenny Gospel Choir in attendance.
A commemoration ceremony took place on 7th November 2017 to honour their memory and acknowledge the ongoing significance of the research they emparted to us as a nation. Ambassador to Australia, Mr Richard Andrews, Ambassador to UK, Mr Robin Barnett and Kerry Tupper, a descendant of Mary Slattery, one of our Orphan girls who departed for Sydney in 1849 were in attendance. Senior choirs from Loreto, St. Kieran's College and CBS schools performed.
Ar Deis De go raibh siad
MacDonagh Junction Centre Management
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Plaque on Crypt:
Herein lie the remains of 970 famine victims discovered at this workhouse site in 2005. They were paupers of the Kilkenny Union Workhouse whose deaths occured between August 1847 and March 1851. Their names were not recorded.
A Special Community Project in 2017 reconnected 970 individuals to these people, honoring their lives and acknowledging their unique and special identity. Each participant left their fingerprint now etched here.
"Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal" - Thomas Moore