But what makes this Walk special, is that every year a representative of the Choctaw Indians - a Native American nation - comes on the walk; this is a unique continuance of an Irish/Choctaw connection since that time - an unbroken continuum......... It was during the Great Irish Famine in the aforesaid 'Black '47', that these Choctaw upon hearing of this cataclysm where so moved, they collected 710 Dollars and sent it here. Having endured 'The Trail of Tears' in 1831 - their own Famine - they knew exactly how the beleagured Irish felt!
This year's walk was particularly moving as a man from the Niger Delta also came to demonstrate his solidarity and remembrance of the Famine Walk; thus forging a cross cultural/ethnic dimension to it all.
The Walk itself is tough but how tiring, depends on your fitness, but it's well worth doing and immensely rewarding; you'll feel renewed and reinvigorated as if having done a Pilgrimage; in addition, I also found it incredibly moving. Just after the start, you'll pass by an evocative stone memorial to those who fell there on that day! It is imperative to stop here, reflect, ponder, and contemplate. I myself did a small prayer and invocatory poem. But at least honour it with your presence and silence!
http://www.thefullwiki.org/Doolough_Tragedy
'The Louisburg Famine Walk' is one of those 'events' that one has to do at least once in one's lifetime, much like climbing the mountain of Croagh Patrick on Reek Sunday, at the end of July; whether Irish, of Irish roots or ancestry, or just a history lover, a serial walker or a visitor to Ireland looking for, a profound experience to take with you, it's a challenge that needs to be encountered and experienced! On the way, you'll see some enchanting mountains, a deeply beautiful but desolate landscape and in the howling winds, you can almost hear the sighs of the Banshee and the spirits of the hungry ones!!
