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The Doolough Famine Walk

Doolough Valley, County Mayo

A road where starving families died walking to seek help.

In March 1849, during the Great Famine, hundreds of starving people walked to Delphi Lodge to ask officials for food or entry to the workhouse. They were turned away and had to walk back through the valley in freezing weather.

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When
March 1849
Where
53.6700, -9.7700
Group
Lost & drowned villages

Visiting

The memorial cross stands beside the road through the Doolough Valley.

Cover of The Ledger of Lost Britain by Cale Mills
Read the full story in the book

The Ledger of Lost Britain

The Romans arrived in AD 43. For most people that is where the history of Britain begins. But by the time the legions landed, people had already been living on these islands for thousands of years. They had hunted, farmed, mined flint, dragged stones across the country, raised a hill by hand, and buried their dead in great tombs. They left no written words. What they left was the ground itself. Every place in this book can be visited, or has been dug up, or is in a museum.

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