The construction of a permanent memorial in Leadville's Evergreen Cemetery will begin this summer. The memorial will list the names of roughly 1200 people buried in unmarked graves in the "Old Catholic" section of the cemetery, most of them Irish immigrants. The average age at death of these 1200 people is 22, with 48% age 12 or younger. 

This fall, James Walsh will be the Chair for the American Conference for Irish Studies West Regional conference, which will take place on the Auraria campus. The focus on the conference will be Irish labor in the American West and we will be highlighting the Leadville memorial effort. 

In February, Dr. Walsh was privileged to give a talk about the Leadville Irish Immigrant memorial at Michigan State University as part of their "Our Daily Work, Our Daily Lives" labor studies program.