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Kilmallock: From Friary to Famine
Lecture

Kilmallock: From Friary to Famine

Historian Loretto Horrigan Leary traces Kilmallock from medieval market town to Famine Memorial Park and public memory.

Kilmallock, County Limerick, is a town layered with medieval heritage, famine suffering, and public memory. Beginning with Kilmallock’s historic streets, churches, castle, and Dominican Friary, this talk traces how a once-thriving market town was devastated during the Great Hunger. Historian Loretto Horrigan Leary will reflect on Kilmallock Famine Memorial Park as the site of Ireland’s 2025 National Famine Commemoration, asking how communities remember painful history with honesty, dignity, and care.

Loretto Horrigan Leary is a writer, researcher, and historian whose work focuses on the Irish Famine, collective memory, public commemoration, and the role of monuments and historic sites in shaping how communities remember difficult pasts.