How an 1847 Choctaw donation to Ireland now funds students through UCC scholarship

Historic act of generosity during the Great Famine continues to shape cultural ties and educational opportunities nearly two centuries later

Cordell Palmer, a member of the Choctaw Nation, is availing of a UCC scholarship in memory of a donation that was made to the Irish people on behalf of the Choctaw Nation back in the 1800s. Cordell thinks ‘it’s just incredible that this relationship began almost 200 years ago’. Pictures: Jim Coughlan

It might have formed the basis of one of history’s most unlikely friendships, beginning with a Native American tribe’s selfless act to help Irish famine victims.

More than a century later, Cordell Palmer, a member of the Choctaw Nation, is among those benefitting from his community’s extraordinary legacy.