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Varadkar to thank Choctaw Nation for support during Famine

The Taoiseach is travelling to the US next week.

0084 Beast from the East Press_90538686 Taoiseach Leo Varadkar RollingNews.ie RollingNews.ie

THE TAOISEACH IS set to visit the Choctaw Nation in Oklahoma during a visit to the US next week.

Leo Varadkar will thank the Native American community for money their ancestors gave to help Irish people affected by the Great Famine in 1847.

Despite facing starvation and poverty themselves, the Choctaw people contributed $170 (€150) – which is about $4,400 (€3,950) today – to send food aid when they heard about Ireland’s struggle.

Speaking ahead of the visit, Varadkar said: “I am captivated by the story of the Choctaws. They were expelled from their ancestral lands in Mississippi, and lost many members of their tribe on the Trail of Tears. Many starved to death or died from exhaustion during their journey on foot to the reservation in Oklahoma.

A few years later, the Choctaw heard of the Irish famine, and of the suffering of our people. Even though some of the people who took their lands were Irish, the Choctaw understood our pain and felt kinship with us, because they had experienced it themselves.

“This is one of the oldest connections we have with America, and it’s a kinship I wish to renew through my visit.”

Cork sculpture

Last year a delegation of over 15 representatives, including Choctaw Nation Chief Gary Batton, attended a public ceremony in Midleton in Cork at which a sculpture commemorating the donation was officially unveiled.

geograph-5211210-by-hywel-williams-1 The sculpture in Midleton, Cork Alex Pentek Alex Pentek

Varadkar will meet Batton next week and make a presentation to the community. The Taoiseach will be in the US ahead of the traditional St Patrick’s week visit to Washington DC.

The sculpture in Cork, Kindred Spirits, was made by sculptor Alex Pentek. It was commissioned in 2013 to commemorate the donation. It has nine 20-foot eagle feathers arranged in a circle shape reaching towards the sky, representing a bowl filled with food.

Read: Choctaw Chief to visit sculpture that commemorates his nation’s generosity during Irish famine

Read: Diarmuid Martin says Mary McAleese’s criticism of the Church was ‘brutally stark’

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    Mute Jay
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    Apr 13th 2025, 8:19 PM

    29 going on 49. You are only young once pal.

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    Mute P. J.
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    Apr 13th 2025, 10:36 PM

    @Jay:
    That’s the only type who would keep a money diary!!
    Have you noticed how many accountants and money managers come up?

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    Mute George Bowling
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    Apr 13th 2025, 8:57 PM

    Maybe if the journal offered a free bet to write one of these diaries we’d all finally get the account of the young life of the hard drinking tearaway whose rent this week is entirely dependent on the 3.30 at Kempton that we all secretly hope to read whenever we open one of these articles.

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    Mute P. J.
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    Apr 13th 2025, 10:33 PM

    @George Bowling:
    Haha, it would have to be a lot more than one free bet to get someone like that to keep an accurate money diary

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    Mute Laney Sinc
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    Apr 13th 2025, 8:06 PM

    Youth is wasted on the young.

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    Mute Lance Taylor
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    Apr 14th 2025, 5:23 AM

    @Laney Sinc: he is a very rich one and saving a pretty penny

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    Mute Trish
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    Apr 13th 2025, 9:23 PM

    Well done. I think you’re doing great.

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    Mute Thomas O'Brien
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    Apr 13th 2025, 9:51 PM

    Woke up, got out of bed, dragged the comb across my head. Made my way downstairs and drank a cup and looking up I noticed I was late.
    Found my coat and grabbed my hat, made the bus in seconds flat.
    Found my way upstairs and had a smoke and somebody spoke and I went into a dream.

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    Mute Thomas Meaney
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    Apr 13th 2025, 8:50 PM

    I can only assume the engineer is either Elec, Mech or similar. His remuneration shows the exploitation large companies get away with. You can be guaranteed they are charging the client double if not more for his role. Of course I’m guessing but this would be typical of construction companies. After all the years studying being an engineer is no longer seen as it was once before.

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    Mute Dan The Man
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    Apr 13th 2025, 9:12 PM

    @Thomas Meaney: He could grow a pair and go work for himself and double his salary immediately minimum.

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    Mute Dominic Leleu
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    Apr 14th 2025, 4:47 AM

    no kids, carreer oriented and no life

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    Mute Dan The Man
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    Apr 14th 2025, 6:05 AM

    @Dominic Leleu: People don’t seem to realise you pay for selfish choices at the end in old age when loneliness and isolation kick in.

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