Eleven centuries before the Hibernian High Cross was dedicated in Portland, OR, the original Cross of the Scriptures went up at Clonmacnoise, Ireland. And it never came down. CROSS TALK is a series of articles to come about the local Irish High Cross and the connections to Irish history and culture. This is Column One: How and why and who built it.

In the summer of 2023, the newly appointed Consul General of Ireland on the West Coast, Micheal Smith, came to Portland to visit the Oregon Potato Famine Memorial. Here’s the presentation given to familiarize Smith with its back story and the accomplishment this Memorial represents for local members of the Irish Diaspora.