club honours national famine memorial day

Newsroom Staff
CELTIC Football Club today announced that it is to mark National Famine Memorial Day on May 17, 2009.

The day has been earmarked by the Irish Government to commemorate and honour the 1.5million people who either perished or emigrated from Ireland during the Great Famine from 1845 to 1851.

As a mark of respect, the Celtic team will wear the club’s Celtic Cross on their shirts when they plays Hibernian on Sunday.  

The Cross, representing a bridge between Scottish and Irish cultures, is the symbol of the club’s charitable arm, established to continue the work initiated by the club’s founder Brother Walfrid, an Irish Marist Brother.

Celtic Chairman John Reid said: “Given Celtic’s proud Irish heritage, this club is inextricably linked to the Great Famine and the subsequent immigration from Ireland.

“Celtic Football Club, therefore, is proud to be marking National Famine Memorial Day in this manner as we pay our respects to all those affected by the Great Hunger, one of the most tragic chapters in modern world history.

“The Irish Famine resulted in death, disease and displacement of people on an unimaginable scale, with the West of Scotland becoming a principal point of refuge. 

“The Famine is a lesson from history which should never be forgotten, but from the despair and death of famine arose new hope, new life and a new future. Part of that came in the shape of Celtic Football Club.

“The desperate people who fled Ireland and their offspring born in Scotland, became the collective parents of Celtic Football Club.

“The club’s main inspiration, Brother Walfrid and Michael Davitt, the club’s first patron, were both young children during the Famine in Ireland.

“Celtic is a Scottish club with proud Irish roots, an organisation which represents a fusion of cultures between both countries. We are a club open to all and while we celebrate our traditions, it is important that we also celebrate our diversity.

“During the past 120 years, Celtic has developed into a world-class football organisation which strives for excellence and success on and off the field.

“However, while we always aim to build and grow, there will be one constant - we will always remain much more than a football club and we will always remember our proud heritage.”