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The plaque shown on the left was unveiled at Clarence Dock Gates , Liverpool at 13:00 on Sunday October 22, 2000.
The plaque inscription will reads in Gaelic and English: "Through these gates passed most of the 1,300,000 Irish migrants who fled from the Great Famine and 'took the ship' to Liverpool in the years 1845-52"
The plaque is one of several in Liverpool which have been funded by the Great Famine Commemoration Committee. In 1998 The President of Ireland Mrs. Mary Mc. Aleese unveiled a monument to the victims of the Great Famine in the grounds of St. Luke's Church.
Clarence Dock opened in 1830 is named after William, Duke of Clarence son of King George III and who later became William IV. William was born in 1765 and went to sea as an able seaman, following the relief Gibraltar he was rated midshipman and became a friend of Horatio Nelson. By 1786 he William was appointed as a rear Admiral and created Earl of Munster and Duke of Clarence.
The Dock itself had originally been constructed separate from the main docks as a base for the newly developing steam ships, which might otherwise have posed a threat of fire to sailing vessels. Its role in handling steamships passed and much of the time the dock was used for vessels employed on coastal and Irish Sea routes.
With the exception of the Clarence Graving Docks which are now part of the Cammell Laird Group, Clarence Dock was closed and filled in 1929 - the site being sold for use as a power station. The three large chimneys of the Clarence Dock Power Station were a familiar Mersey landmark until demolished along with the power station in the mid 1990s.
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