Connecticut Attorney General investigating Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum closure

Posted by Jim on October 29, 2021

The Attorney General acted after a plea by Irish Americans to investigate the closure, concerned over the break-up of the large art collection.

IrishCentral Staff@IrishCentral Oct 28, 2021

The Irish Great Hunger Museum in Hamden located on the grounds of Quinnipiac University. 

The Connecticut Attorney General has commenced an inquiry into the closure of Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum in Hamden located on the grounds of Quinnipiac University.

William Tong’s office has an open and ongoing inquiry into Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum’s closure, a spokesperson told the Quinnipiac Chronicle. The office acted after a plea by Irish Americans to the attorney general to investigate the closure.

The letter to Tong “stated that the attorney general should look into the closure because it involves selling or distributing the museum’s collection, which is in the public interest.”

“Furthermore, donors want to know what happens to their gifts of artwork and money to a museum that is now closed,” the letter stated.

Michael McCabe, attorney for the Ad Hoc Irish group, said he was certain the Attorney General is looking into the matter.

“We’re not really considering any other legal options,” McCabe said. “We’re a group of private citizens, we have no real standing to challenge the decisions made by Quinnipiac. That’s why we got the attorney general involved,” McCabe told the Chronicle.

Tong’s office already reached out to Quinnipiac to inquire about the closure. Spokesman John Morgan said the university ”is being cooperative.”

The university “will provide the necessary information requested about Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum, including relevant policies about gifts, any donations that were received, and the financial operations of the museum,” Morgan wrote in an email statement.

Morgan has stated the Famine museum raised only 25 percent of the funds needed to keep it operating. Critics have said given the pandemic, that is not surprising. 1,300 Irish have signed on to a protest letter.