Sixty years ago upon leaving school in Dublin I knew relatively little about the Irish Famine. Later I was to learn that in Ireland many topics tended to be glossed over in the teaching of Irish history, among them the 1916 Rebellion and subsequent Civil War, and the Potato Famine.

It’s only in the last decade or so that Irish political leaders have begun to publicly acknowledge the scale and impact of the Famine tragedy and pay homage to its victims.   It has been speculated that this new-found readiness for public discourse on the Famine is directly linked to Ireland’s thriving economy and ever-escalating material prosperity. Coming to terms with traumatic historical events may indeed represent Ireland’s new-found confidence and maturity.

The Irish Famine occurred an incredibly short time ago. Many of us have been in Canada 30, 40 or 50 years. Multiply those numbers by three and head backwards in time. One can readily visualize them fleeing from the accursed potato blight, sick, destitute, living in fragile hope of better days ahead in a strange new land.

Accompanied by my wife Terry and our daughter Geraldine I attended the Wednesday, June 20^th Gala Concert held at the Roy Thomson Hall to commemorate the Ireland Park Opening. The concert featured the Canadian premiere of Irish composer Patrick Cassidy’s “Famine Remembrance” performed by the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and Festival Orchestra along with two female soloists, Jessica Lloyd and Robin Vaillancourt, boy soprano Johann Licht, and the Celtic Tenors. Also appearing were Canadian singer Loreena McKennitt and her band.

To be honest the main reason we went to the Gala was because Mary McAleese, Ireland’s extremely popular President, was the guest of honour and we wanted to share the buzz of being in her presence at such an auspicious event. For the occasion we had splurged and bought orchestra seats. At ten minutes to eight there were about 50 people scattered around the orchestra section of the theatre. Oh my god, I thought, it’s a bust, very few are showing up, this is going to be an unmitigated disaster! Over the public address system a voice intoned “five minutes to curtain time.”

That Wednesday there must have been a particularly good sermon at evening devotions for not until the stroke of eight did the audience begin swarming through the doorways, happy, carefree, many of them stopping to exchange greetings yet again before making a beeline towards their seats. Promptly on the appointed hour the president Mary McAleese and her husband Dr. Martin McAleese were ushered to their seats to loud applause. Merciful lord, the orchestra seats were almost full! Alleluia, let the concert begin.

After Oliver Murray’s brief welcoming speech Loreena McKennitt got the show underway. She was in good voice singing an eclectic mixture of Irish and Canadian folk songs while linking her music with interesting references to moments in Irish history and to famous Irish poets and writers. As always she was backed by an extremely talented group of virtuoso musicians.

The major musical work featured the Mendelssohn Choir & Festival Orchestra.

Hearing the Celtic Tenors sing “Remember Me” on this special evening was a spine-tingling experience, evoking an ineffable sadness, a poignant lament for lives cruelly taken away.

Another highlight was the recitation of a poem written in honour of the Famine victims and read by the author himself, John O’ Donnell. Inclusion of this poem was the perfect final touch, for the spoken word compressed in poetic form has traditionally been the conduit through which the Irish express both the joy and sadness of life’s major moments.

Patrick Cassidy’s music, sombre, mournful, triumphant at times, set just the right tone for the evening. It beautifully captured the solemnity and gravity of the underlying themes of sickness, cruelty, and death. I left the theatre in a pensive mood, reflecting on the plight of those helpless Famine victims doomed to die, cursed by both nature’s capriciousness and man’s heartlessness.