Australia Thanks Ballyshannon Today

 Mr. Robert Owen-Jones Charge d'Affaires in the Australian Embassy laid a
                wreath on behalf of the Australian people at the Orphan Girls Memorial in Ballyshannon

The Australian Embassy paid a special visit to Ballyshannon today to thank our community for remembering the 19 orphan girls who were shipped to Australia from Ballyshannon Workhouse at the height of the Great Famine. A wreath was laid by Mr. Robert Owen-Jones Charge d'Affaires of the Australian Embassy on behalf of the Australian people at the Orphan Girls Memorial in Ballyshannon.

Mr. Robert Owen-Jones Charge d'Affaires in the Australian Embassy visited a wet and windy Orphan Girls Memorial in Ballyshannon on Monday 29th June 2020 and expressed gratitude on behalf of the Australian people for remembering these forgotten girls who left Ballyshannon and made new lives for themselves in Australia.

Mr. Jones laid a wreath on behalf of the Australian Government and the Australian people.

Anthony Begley returned thanks to the embassy for recognising the unique Orphan Girls Memorial in Ballyshannon which remembers 19 girls from areas around Ballyshannon in Fermanagh, Leitrim and Donegal who left the workhouse at the height of the Great Famine in 1848. They contributed to Australian society in difficult times and a number of their descendants had visited the memorial in Ballyshannon in the past few years.

Pam Barker a great great grand daughter of one of the  orphan girls Mary Ann McDermott  had travelled from Sydney to unveil the monument in 2014. Mr. Barney McLoughlin Donegal County Council co-ordinated the embassy visit.

Eight of the orphan girls from the Ballyshannon area  are named on the Irish Famine Memorial in Hyde Park, Sydney today. All 19 are named and remembered on the memorial in Ballyshannon. Further photos of the event will follow.