Famine walk passing through Maynooth today
An international group of famine scholars are taking part in a six-day walk along the Royal Canal from Strokestown to Dublin, following in the footsteps of 1,490 tenants who were forced to emigrate to Canada during the summer of 1847.
They will arrive in Maynooth this evening before setting off from the town again tomorrow morning towards Dublin for the final leg.
President Michael D. Higgins greeted the walkers at a commemorative event at Richmond Harbour in Co Longford on Saturday last.
The 155k trek along the Royal Canal, in costume, will be a re-enactment of the long walk tenants took from the Strokestown Estate to Dublin before emigrating to Canada. The Famine had destroyed their lives in Co. Roscommon and this was the only course of action open to them.
“Building on the success of the 2015 Irish Famine Walk we will be walking along the new and developing National Famine Way trail along the Royal Canal between Strokestown, Co. Roscommon and Dublin. This walk, 170 years after the individual emigrants’ original journey will become our own Camino,” said Caroilin Callery of Strokestown Park and the Irish National Famine Museum.
“In walking in the footsteps of our missing Strokestown 1490,” she added, “we hope not only to recreate their journey but also honour their legacy. We want to find their living descendants in Canada and the United States, and invite them to join us on the National Famine Way”.
“The journey of the walkers will also be mapped out and curated in real time at www.nationalfamineway.ie which is designed to appeal to anyone interested in this aspect of Irish history and heritage. People can log on to track the progress of the walkers, watch engaging videos and get insight into what the Famine was like and how life turned out for some of the original 1,490 people forced to take this extraordinary path into exile.
"People can use the #Missing 1490 hashtag and can follow the walk using @famineway on Twitter. We also have a Youtube channel where people can learn all about this historic event,” said Owen Conlan from the ADAPT Centre for Digital Content Technology. The ADAPT Team has created a unique digital experience for people who want to follow this event.
The Strokestown House and Famine Archive staff have traced some of the descendants of those #Missing1490, but they are trying to find them all to commemorate our Famine heritage. “We are launching an appeal to solve the mystery of the #Missing 1490 by locating the descendants of those who survived this walk and emigrated to Canada and the United States. Go online to www.nationalfamineway.ie to join the search and help us find the #Missing1490,” Caroilin Callery continued.
The public are welcome to join the walk along the way, share stories and engage with walkers, or at the Jeanie Johnston replica Famine ship on Custom House Quay in Dublin on the afternoon of Thursday June 1st.