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History
Baltimore experienced an avalanche of newly arrived immigrants between 1840 and1850. A large percentage were Irish, coming to America to escape the “Great Hunger,” Ireland’s famine of 1845-1853. They settled in southwest Baltimore and promptly went to work for the vibrant Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.
The Irish Shrine is part of a larger history-rich community, unusual because it is still intact, consisting of the places where the Irish lived, worked, worshipped, and were buried.
Visitors can make the Irish
Shrine part of an Irish Heritage walk, combining the B&O Railroad Museum, Irish Shrine, St. Peter's the Apostle Church, and the Hollins Street Market. The Irish Shrine is a unique, non-staffed interpretive site that includes a house furnished to depict daily life for the Irish immigrant living in the late 1840s visible through a clear back wall; a garden; and other interpretive exhibits.
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The Irish Shrine |
The
Irish Shrine consists of two renovated alley
houses in 900 block of Lemmon Street. The houses
on Lemmon street were built in 1848 to provide
homes for the growing number of workers needed by
America’s first railroad. The houses have been
converted into a self-guided interpretative
museum.
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The
B&O Railroad Museum |
In 1827 the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was located in the countryside of west Baltimore, which soon saw erected the stations, roundhouses, shops, yards, and other labor demanding structures. Click here for official web site of
the B&O Railroad museum, located one block
south of the Irish Shrine.
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St. Peter the Apostle Church |
This beautiful church was the home parish of many of the early Irish immigrants. It is famous for both its architecture and its place in Baltimore history. Click here for more
information on St. Peter The Apostle Church.
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St. Peter the Apostle Cemetery |
This wonderful cemetery located in West Baltimore was virtually abandoned until recently. Walk the beautiful lawns and forest paths, and marvel at the old gravestones, the sense of Irish history, and the still abandoned gravestones peaking through the woods. For more information on the cemetery, click here.
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The Hollins Street Market |
The
Hollins Street market was the primary shopping hub
for this area. Still active today, the market is
home to fish, meat, flower, vegetables, and other
vendors.
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