The "Coming Home" exhibition of famine-related art is currently being moved from Dublin Castle, where it has been for the last four months, to the West Cork Arts Centre in Skibbereen.

The exhibit will open there later this month before moving on to Derry next year.

The art works are on loan from Ireland's Great Hunger Museum at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut.

The museum was the brainchild of the University’s President John Lahey but it would not have been possible without the financial backing of American millionaire Murray Lender.

He made his money from bagels.

Murray and his brother Marvin took their father’s small, backyard bakery and turned Lender’s Bagels into a household name in the US. Murray himself also became famous.

He was a colourful character and was the face of the company, appearing in multiple TV and print advertisements.

Murray passed away in 2012. His brother and business partner Marvin recalls how they grew the bagel business in the early years.

"We used the vehicle of frozen foods to market our product. We not only created a big company, we created an industry. In the sixties and seventies, the only people who ate bagels in the US were jewish people. We introduced them to the rest of the marketplace," he said.

Murray Lender decided to fund Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum after he heard a speech about the famine given by Quinnipiac University President John Lahey.

Mr Lahey says Murray saw parallels between the struggles of the Irish and those faced by his own family, jewish immigrants who fled Europe before the Holocaust.

"He saw the suffering of his parents who had to leave their native country", according to John Lahey. "They didn't speak English and I'm sure they faced discrimination when they arrived in the US".

Marvin Lender said that he and his brother Murray could identify with the Irish famine story because of the jewish people's suffering during the Holocaust.

"There were many similarities in how a group of people were identified and dealt with in a way that these days is hard to imagine," he said.

The Lenders have given a lot of money to good causes but Marvin says Ireland's Great Hunger Museum is one of their proudest achievements.

"The Holocaust is not just for the jewish people. This museum and the potato famine is not just for Irish people. It is for all people to understand and learn man's inhumanity to man".

The museum is located in the town of Hamden, Connecticut and attracts thousands of visitors every year thanks to its location.

It is halfway between Boston and New York, the two big hubs of Irish Americans living in the US.

The town of Hamden, although small, also has a vibrant Irish community and they are very proud of their local museum.

A short distance up the street from The Great Hunger Museum is the Lucky Ewe Irish Gift Shop. Its owner is Kathleen Regan. She says she was inspired by the museum to open her store three years ago.

"I wanted something to compliment that museum. To see all the beauty that has come out of that ugly horrific time. There is a great sadness when you go there but there is also a sense of beauty, pride and strength. That museum gives us hope".

Perhaps it is ironic that a museum dedicated to the Great Hunger was funded by a family who made their money from food, but just as the Lenders shared bagels with customers outside of the jewish community, they were also keen to share the story of the Irish famine with the rest of the world.

The story of Murray Lender and his involvement with Ireland's Great Hunger Museum will feature on Wednesday's Nationwide at 7pm on RTE One