An Gorta Mór Poem by Daniel McDonagh

An Gorta Mór
forced the Irish nation
To flee their homeland
of death and starvation,
Forced to emigrate to America,
to New York, Baltimore & Boston,
Were the wind-borne potatoe blight
had been born.

Some crossed the Irish Sea
to the city of Glasgow
To seek refuge in a city
that the Church of Scotland controlled,
They lived within the poverty,
the abuse and oppression,
Obstacles that lay in their path
by the Protestant population.

Glasgow was not the promised land
for the Irish Catholic community,
They fought the prejudice and bigotry,
they encountered each day,
The Irish Diaspora cried out to Our Lord
to provide them with a saviour,
For their faith, heritage and culture
was to be preserved by Brother Walfrid.
Oct’2006