Bishop Deeley blesses the Catholic ground at Western Cemetery during anniversary ceremony

The Most Reverend Robert Deeley, bishop emeritus of Portland, participated in a rededication ceremony on Sunday, August 11 at Portland’s historic Western Cemetery in honor of the 25th anniversary of the installation of the Great Hunger Memorial. The memorial, originally dedicated by the Ancient Hibernian Order and blessed by Bishop Joseph Gerry on August 15, 1999, marks the final resting place of nearly 1,200 Irish Catholics.

Matthew Barker of the Maine Irish Heritage Center offered an historic perspective on the event, and John Funk and Sam Wilson of the Stewards of the Western Cemetery shared details of their on-going work to restore the site. The stewards have launched a capital campaign to help fund further historic preservation, including fixing damaged headstones.

Bishop Deeley offered a prayer and remarks before blessing the memorial and ground with holy water. Bishop Deeley’s parents were both immigrants from Country Galway in Ireland.

“Dear friends, we gather today to pray for our brothers and sister whose bodies lie here in rest. They have passed from death to life in company with the Lord Jesus, who died and rose to new life. We pray that God may welcome them among all the saints of heaven.”

Most of those buried in the section were poor Irish immigrants coming to the United States to escape disease and famine in their native country beginning in the 1830s, but most especially during the Great Irish Potato Famine of 1845-1851. The cemetery was established in 1829, about 30 years before Calvary was opened in 1858 as a Catholic cemetery.

Following the blessing, Fran Wilson, a cantor at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, sang “The Irish Blessing” before Tom Ryan played bagpipes. Following the ceremony, a reception was held at the Maine Irish Heritage Center in Portland.