This monument was built to commemorate the close connection between Arranmore and Beaver Island, in northern Lake Michigan in the USA. Beaver Island has a strong connection with Arranmore where descendants of Arranmore families still live and prosper. In 1849 the landlord John Stoupe Charlie bought Arranmore Island and in 1851 he expelled 220 people from the island to make room for his livestock. The exiles travelled to America on two ships which he provided, and many of these exiles settled on Beaver Island, also known as America’s Emerald Isle.
