Funks Grove Township near McLean in McLean County, Illinois — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)

Irish Monument

Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, April 4, 2025

1. Irish Monument (Closeup of plaque)

Inscription. This Celtic cross honors the memory of more than fifty souls buried here in the early 1850s. These immigrants from Ireland were driven from the land of their birth by famine and disease. They arrived sick and penniless, and took hard and dangerous jobs building the Chicago & Alton Railroad. Known but to God, they rest here in individual anonymity - far from the old homes of their hearts - yet forever short of the new homes of their hopes. Their sacrifices opened interior Illinois and made it possible to develop the riches of the land we share today.

Erected 2000 by McLean County Historical Society.

Topics. This historical marker and monument is listed in these topic lists: Cemeteries & Burial Sites • Immigration • Railroads & Streetcars. A significant historical year for this entry is 1850.

Location. 40° 21.658′ N, 89° 7.943′ W. Marker is near McLean, Illinois, in McLean County. It is in Funks Grove Township. It can be reached from East 535 North Road, on the right when traveling east. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 7054 E 535 North Rd, Mc Lean IL 61754, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker and monument is in Central Illinois.

It is also in the American Midwest

and in the Corn Belt.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture

and also the Northwest Territory.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 6 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Funks Grove Church (within shouting distance of this marker); Bloomington-Normal, Illinois (approx.

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1.2 miles away); Isaac Funk (approx. 1.2 miles away); Having a Picnic / A Transportation Corridor (approx. 1.2 miles away); A Home on the Road (approx. 3.9 miles away); Local Prairie & History of Shirley, IL (approx. 4.9 miles away); Charles Lindbergh Crash Site (approx. 4.9 miles away); Abraham Lincoln - Eighth Judicial District (approx. 6.1 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in McLean.

Another marker is no longer nearby. Funks Grove Pure Maple Sirup, Funks Grove, Illinois (was approx. ¾ mile away but has been confirmed missing).

Also see . . . 50 Irish railroad workers lie buried in a mass grave in Illinois. Less well known are two mass graves of fifty Irish people who worked on the Illinois Central Railroad in Funks Grove, IL, a small village 12 miles south of Bloomington. The grave site's unusual because the workers were buried in the local cemetery instead of by the tracks, all thanks to the kindness of one family, the Funks. (Casey Egan, Irish Central, Jan. 16, 2017) (Submitted on April 18, 2025, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.)

Irish Monument image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, April 4, 2025

2. Irish Monument

Irish Monument Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, April 5, 2025

3. Irish Monument Marker

Credits. This page was last revised on May 2, 2025. It was originally submitted on April 17, 2025, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 145 times since then and 17 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on April 17, 2025, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.