Doolough Tragedy

In March 1847, a crowd of over 600 starving people descended on the town of Louisburgh to look for food or a place in the workhouse. The relieving officer denied them help and informed them they would have to apply for this to the Board of Guardians who would meet the next day at Delphi Lodge, near Delphi about 12 miles away. The 600 made their way towards Delphia via the narrow roads over the mountains, where they were forced to spend the night in the open on bare rock battered by the storm. They reached Delphi the next day just as the Board were having lunch. The 600 people were made to wait in the snow storms and rain until the board finished lunch and then assistance was denied to them. The guards of Delphi Lodge chased them away and they could do nothing but make their way back to Louisburgh through the piercing winds and the snow. Many were too weak to take the mountain road so they opted for the longer more coastal paths. The wind blew many people into open waters and over 400 bodies washed up on the shores of Killary.

A cross and an annual Famine Walk between Louisburgh and Doolough commemorate this event. The monument in Doolough valley has an inscription from Mahatma Gandhi: How can men feel themselves honoured by the humiliation of their fellow beings?

External links

• The History of the Irish Famine by Rev. John O'Rourke
• Irish National Archives information on the Famine
• Irish Holocaust
• History
• Ireland: The hunger years 1845-1851
• Local History Website on the Famine
• Kids History Website about the Famine
• Irish Repay Choctaw Famine Gift:March Traces Trail of Tears in Trek for Somalian Relief
• President of Ireland Mary Robinson Addresses the Choctaw People