HUNDREDS of people are expected to attend memorial services for the victims of the Great Famine across the world this weekend.
Sunday, May 10 marks the annual memorial day for the one million Irish people who perished during seven years of starvation.
Here in Britain vigils will be held in Cardiff, London and Liverpool on Sunday – all cities that saw Irish people arrive in their droves during the Famine.
In Cardiff crowds will gather at noon at the city’s Famine memorial site in Cathay’s Cemetery, Allensbank Road.
There will be music, poetry and history talks on the day.
In London, the Trades Union Congress on Great Russell Street is the venue for the memorial - with the event kicking off off at 4pm.
Liverpool, another British city with strong connections to the Great Famine, will have a memorial mass on Sunday morning at 11.15am at the St John the Evangelist Church in Kirkdale.
In Ireland, Dublin will be the venue for the main event on Famine memorial day – with a service due to take place at the Garden of Remembrance.
Around the world events are also expected to take place in New York and Montreal.
Aside from the one million deaths caused by the Famine, a further one million Irish people fled the country at that time - heading for the likes of Britain and Ireland – leaving Ireland’s population at an all-time low of 4 million.
