Bishop Robert Hennessey blesses the Celtic cross, which is part of the new “Children of the Famine Memorial,” dedicated at the burial ground of St. Francis de Sales Church on Bunker Hill in Charlestown, Sept. 13. Pilot photo courtesy/ Robie Marcella
The “Irish Cemetery” as it has been called, is one of the oldest Catholic graveyards in New England and the burial place of upwards of 10,000 Irish immigrants, many of them Famine refugees, many of them children. The dedication ceremony featured remarks by Marius Harkin of Clonmany, Donegal, as well as Irish Consul-General Michael Lonergan and Bishop Hennessey. The project was funded locally and from the proceeds of the documentary, “The Green Square Mile: Story of the Charlestown Irish,” a film produced by the Charlestown Historical Society.