The Irish Famine Memorial

As part of the 150th Anniversary of the Church in 2001 it was decided to have an enduring memorial to those people who came from Ireland during the years of the Great Famine but who sadly died shortly after arriving in Otley. The resulting Irish Famine Memorial on the south wall of Our Lady and All Saints Church was designed by Peter Holt. The late Fred Turner negotiated the donation of the stone from Mone Brothers who kindly provided it free of charge and John Cooney arranged for Pickles Funeral Directors to undertake the engraving who also kindly made no charge. Fifty three names are engraved on the memorial. Their names were found in the records of deaths of Otley Parish Church by Mary Morgan and the late Ruth Pickles. They were listed in those records as ‘from Ireland’. Other members of the then Parish History Group Frank and Jean McManus provided background information. The memorial stone was dedicated on 1st December 2001.

On Sunday 16th June 2002 Fr Tom O’Connor Parish Priest of Our Lady and All Saints and Rev Graham Buttanshaw Vicar of the Parish Church dedicated a stone in the Otley Parish Churchyard to commemorate the burial in that churchyard of those named on the Irish Famine Memorial. The stone like the memorial was designed by Peter Holt. Mone Brothers provided it as a gift and Pickles Funeral Directors again undertook the engraving free of charge.