Willson Center director joins in dedication of monument to Irish casualties from American Civil War
Willson Center Director Nicholas Allen, Baldwin Professor in Humanities, participated in the dedication of the Irish Monument at Andersonville National Historic Site with The Andersonville Irish Project on October 19, 2023. Also taking part were Irish Government Minister Darragh O’Brien; Caoimhe Ní Chonchúir, Consul General of Ireland, Atlanta; and Dr. Damian Shiels, founder and managing editor of Irish in the American Civil War, a website that hosts numerous research endeavors including The Andersonville Irish Project. From the project’s web page:
In the region of 250,000 Irish American men fought for the Union during the American Civil War. Some 180,000 of them had been born in Ireland; 70,000 more to Irish parents in Britain, Canada and the United States. Tens of thousands of them died. Many are interred in National Cemeteries up and down the United States, but there is one in particular where hundreds of them lie. It is in Andersonville, Georgia. The National Cemetery there almost certainly contains more Irish casualties from the American Civil War than any other location in the United States. The primary aim of this crowd-sourced project is to gather information on the identities and origins of the Irish Americans interred at Andersonville National Cemetery. By so doing, it hopes to bring the story of these men and their families to the fore, and gain further insight into the impact of the Civil War on Ireland and Irish America.
Allen and the Willson Center provided support to The Andersonville Irish Project for the establishment of the monument, along with the National Park Service staff at Andersonville National Historic Site, the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs, the Consulate General of Ireland in Atalanta, and the Northern Ireland Bureau.
Watch the dedication ceremony below.