Afri Famine Walk 2019

Registration and opening ceremony

  1. Registration takes place in the local town hall in Louisburgh.
  2. This will be followed by the opening ceremony — a very important part of the Famine Walk experience.
  3. Shuttle buses will take participants to the start point, following the opening ceremony.

The Walk

  1. The walk is 11 miles (approx.), walkers should walk on the left-hand side.
  2. A shuttle car will be available during the walk for anyone who gets into difficulty.
  3. No parking is available at Delphi Lodge.
  4. Dogs must be kept on a lead.
  5. Portaloos are available along the route.

Register online here (alternatively you can raise sponsorship for Afri – just bring the sponsorship form to the registration desk on the day)

Download Brochure & Sponsorship Card 

Reflections from the 30th annual Famine Walk

Reflections on the 30th Famine Walk from Rob Fairmichael

‘Music from A Dark Lake’ – CD of music from the Doolough Famine Walk available to buy from Afri now! Buy online at www.afri.ie/donate or contact us directly

On 20th May 2017 a couple of hundred people set out  on the 11 mile walk from Doolough/Delphi Lodge for Louisburgh in bright, early summer weather, and it remained dry and bright. They had earlier heard Joe Murray, Danny Cusack and Donnah Vuma speak, and Joe Black sing. The theme, of this the 30th annual walk, was not just the commemoration involved in the Famine Walk but the inhumanity of the Direct Provision system for asylum seekers in Ireland today which treats people not as human beings but as numbers. A tree was planted in Delphi Lodge which again welcomed walkers, a stunning contrast to 1849. These are The Facts.

But what about The Feelings? Every walker has their own feelings, their own reason for undertaking this 11 mile walk.  Remembrance and commemoration are the principal reasons and some people would fast during the walk as an act of solidarity. There is also the challenge of a long walk, and if people are not able then a shuttle car takes them onward. There is beautiful scenery, interesting conversation – on the theme or everything else under the sun – and interaction with others. Those who stay in Louisburgh for the evening enjoy ceol, ól agus craic. But for most being there is also a physical statement of their commitment to justice and peace in the world today. Continue reading “Reflections from the 30th annual Famine Walk”

Date for your diary: 30th Afri Famine Walk

Donncha O Dulaing (centre) leads the first Famine Walk in 1988

Thirty years on the ‘Famine Road’ have generated many memorable moments and iconic images.  On the first walk in 1988, walk leader Donncha O Dulaing arrived by helicopter to join Niall O’Brien, recently released from prison in the Philippines, and Mayo woman Caitriona Ruane, recently  returned from  Central America, before leading us off  on the first ‘chapter’ of this extraordinary journey.

The following year, Brian Willson, having lost both legs while attempting to stop a train delivering arms from the US to Central America, was applauded as he bravely crossed the finishing line.

Desmond Tutu and his wife Leah were almost blown away with the force of the gale that blew up when they led the walk in 1991.  It helped us all to understand a little better how it would’ve been for the hungry poor of 1849.

The voices of Juana Vasquez and Dario Caal, representing the Maya from Guatemala, echoed off the mountains as they spoke at the edge of Doolough about the importance of solidarity and how they believed they were walking with the spirits of our ancestors through the sacred Doolough valley in 1995.

And then the gates of Delphi Lodge were opened to the walk in 2013.  We walked through the gates solemnly carrying the names of those who had died in the tragedy of 1849 and the names of those who died of hunger in our own day, in our world of plenty.  We planted an oak tree, we planted potatoes supplied by Willie Corduff of Rossport and we listened to the deeply emotional rendition of ‘Connacht Orphan’ sung by its author, Declan O’Rourke.

Join us for the 30th Walk on May 20th 2017 where more extraordinary moments are sure to be generated.

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Afri’s annual Doolough Famine Walk was featured on BBC Radio 4’s ‘Ramblings’ show and was selected as BBC Radio 4’s ‘Pick of the Week’ on Sunday 19th February.  Listen to the show here.

To register online go here or check out our facebook event page.  If you  are planning on doing the Famine Walk please contact the Afri office for a sponsorship card – admin@afri.ie or 01 8827563.

 

General Information

  • Please assemble in Louisburgh for registration at 12.45pm. 
  • There will be an approximately 15 min opening ceremony, including speakers and music – this is a very important part of the Famine Walk and we would encourage all participants to be present for this part of the event.
  • Buses will bring walkers to start point from 1.30pm. 
  • A tree will be planted at the start of the walk at the Famine Memorial in Delphi Lodge before walkers return to Louisburgh. 
  • There is no parking available at Delphi Lodge. 
  • The walk is approximately 11 miles (18 km) and a shuttle car will be available along the route if needed.
  • Comfortable shoes, raingear and water are strongly recommended.
  • Tea/coffee (but not food) will be provided at a halfway point along the way.  There will also be toilet facilities at the halfway point as well as along the lake.
  • IN THE INTEREST OF HEALTH AND SAFETY, PLEASE WALK ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE OF THE ROAD FOR THE DURATION OF THE WALK.

Sponsorship

We are asking participants to consider raising sponsorship for Afri, so that we can continue our important work.  If you would like to do so, please get in touch with the Afri office and we will post you out a sponsorship card.  If you would prefer not to raise sponsorship you can register online here or pay €24 on the day – which includes the registration fee and cost of the bus to the start of the walk.

Famine Walk 2015: Food Sovereignty, Global Warming and Resisting Militarism

Photo: Kerstin Hellman.
Photo: Kerstin Hellman. Photo shows famine memorial on grounds of Delphi Lodge.

 

Food Sovereignty, Global Warming and Resisting Militarism

Saturday, May 16th 2015

From  Delphi Lodge to Louisburgh, Co. Mayo.

Registration from 12.45pm; Walk beginning at 1.30pm

Walk Leaders: Abjata Khalif (Kenya), Maitet Ledesma (Philippines) and Sharon Staples (Wales)

Music: RoJ Whelan

 

 Please park cars in Louisburgh: no parking available at Delphi Lodge – a shuttle bus will be provided.

 

Many themes have been explored in the Famine Walk over the past 27 years. The Philippines was the focus of the first ever famine walk as Niall O’Brien, recently released from prison, outlined the experience of living under the Marcos military dictatorship. Significantly, the Philippines is again a focus of this year’s walk as Maitet Ledesma updates us on the current situation there, with particular reference to the devastating impacts of  militarism and global warming.

The issue of food and famine has always been a central theme of the walk, as it is this year.  As nations continue to turn to war as a first resort, in many cases, food security is further threatened, global warming is intensified and corporate control of food is extended, despite the fact that small-scale producers remain the mainstay of global food supplies. Food sovereignty is the common ground on which the realities and hopes of many of these small producers meet. Continue reading “Famine Walk 2015: Food Sovereignty, Global Warming and Resisting Militarism”

Development Education in Action

Michael Wade (Delphi Lodge) opens to gates of Delphi Lodge to the participants of the 2013 Afri Famine Walk in a historically significant welcome. Photo: Derek Speirs
Michael Wade (Delphi Lodge) opens to gates of Delphi Lodge to the participants of the 2013 Afri Famine Walk in a historically significant welcome. Photo: Derek Speirs

Developmenteducation.ie and the Irish Development Education Association (IDEA) have created a new, online space to showcase projects, advocacy, campaigns and actions in development education for schools, community and youth groups. Afri’s 2013 Famine Walk is one of the case studies that you can now read about: http://www.developmenteducation.ie/taking-action

Famine Walk 2014

‘From Famine to Food Sovereignty’ was the theme of the 2014 Afri Famine walk in The Doolough valley in May.  Here is a short film about the Walk made by Dave Donnellan

Famine Walk 2014: From Famine to Food Sovereignty

Coni Ledesma (left) and Luis Jalandoni (right) from the Philippines unveil a Famine Memorial on the grounds of Delphi Lodge during the 2014 Famine Walk. Photo: Rob Fairmichael

Where can you start in talking about the Afri Famine Walk? Well, 1849 is the best point because the Famine Walk is the re-enactment or retracing steps of a real tragedy that happened to people who died walking that way 165 years ago. There is a sense in which the ground we walk on is sacred, holy, or marked because we know some of the terrible things happened in that very place.

But the Afri Famine Walk is not some ethereal revisiting of a past, if tragic, time. It very directly links past, present – what is happening in the world today with causes similar to or the same as what caused and exacerbated the Great Famine in Ireland – and future – and asks us to recommit ourselves to ending famine. There was food, there is food, the question is who controls the food and what happens to it. Some walkers carried posters of the names of individuals who died in that and more recent famines. Continue reading “Famine Walk 2014: From Famine to Food Sovereignty”

Famine Walk 2014: Opening the Gates – From Famine to Food Sovereignty

Saturday, May 17th 2014

From Louisburgh to Delphi Lodge, Co. Mayo.

Registration from 12.45pm; Walk beginning at 1.30pm

Walk Leaders: Paul Nicholson, Luis Jalandoni, Emanuela Russo

Music: Imogen Gunner & friends

Michael Wade (Delphi Lodge) opens the gates of Delphi Lodge to the 2013 Afri Famine Walk in a historically significant welcome. Photo: Derek Speirs

The 2013 Famine Walk will long remain in the memory of those who were there to experience it. The opening of the gates of Delphi Lodge and the welcome extended by proprietor Michael Wade to walkers carrying the names of those who died on the original walk in 1849 was particularly poignant. The planting of an oak tree and potatoes supplied by Willie and Mary Corduff were powerful symbols of new life while the hauntingly moving words of Declan O’Rourke’s Famine song echoed: ‘you Connacht orphans, bare of foot, who walked ten miles at 7 years/ you took your little sister’s hand and walked her to the poorhouse door/ and when they had but room for one/ you left your little sister there/ and feint with hunger all day long/ you walked the ten miles back again”. There was a profound sense of history being made, of those who had died being fittingly remembered, of at least some wounds being healed.

Earlier we heard moving words from Salome Mbugua recalling recent famines, including in Somalia where over 200,000 died virtually unnoticed by the outside world in the period 2010-2012, and we were inspired by Gary White Deer’s reflection that “as we retrace the steps of the people whose names we bear, we believe that they will be with us on our journey”. Continue reading “Famine Walk 2014: Opening the Gates – From Famine to Food Sovereignty”

Impressions from Famine Walk 2013

From Left: Joe Murray (Afri), Salome Mbugua (Akidwa), Fergal Anderson (Food Sovereignty Movement), Gary White Deer (Choctaw Artist), Declan O’Rourke (Musician) and Michael Wade (Delphi Lodge). Photo: Derek Speirs

2013 marked the 26th Afri Famine Walk – this walk having taken place every year since 1988. About 200 hundred people took part in the walk in atrocious weather conditions. The Walk leaders were Fergal Anderson of the Food Sovereignty Movement, Salome Mbugua from Northern Kenya and Choctaw Gary White Deer. We had music from Declan O’Rourke and Emer Mayock.

The Walk is an expression of respect, remembrance and solidarity with those who gathered in Louisburgh in search of food in March 1849.  It is also a walk of solidarity with all who have died and continue to die as a result of poverty and hunger in Ireland and throughout the world today.

This year’s walk had added significance because for the first time it retraced the exact route taken by the people in whose memory it is organised – an estimated 600 people who gathered in Louisburgh in March 1849 in the hope of meeting ‘commissioners’ who would certify them as paupers, which would entitle them to a ration of food or admission to the workhouse.  However, the commissioners failed to appear in Louisburgh and the message was conveyed that they would meet the people in Delphi Lodge instead. Continue reading “Impressions from Famine Walk 2013”

Famine Walk 2013: Opening The Gates – Sowing New Seeds

Famine Walk 2013: Opening The Gates – Sowing New Seeds

Opening the Gates - Sowing New Seeds

Saturday May 18th 2013

From Louisburgh to Delphi Lodge, Co. Mayo

Registration from 12.45pm; Walk beginning at 1.30pm

Walk Leaders: Gary White Deer, Salome Mbugua, Fergal Anderson

Music: Declan O’Rourke

 

For the first time since its inception in 1988, the Afri Famine Walk will complete the journey from Louisburgh to Delphi Lodge – the exact route of the original ‘journey of horror’ of March 30th/31st 1849. The immediate cause of what became known as ‘the death march’ was the news that two ‘commissioners’, Colonel Hogrove and Captain Primrose, would arrive in Louisburgh and certify as paupers the people who had gathered to meet them, thus entitling them to a small ration of meal each. Several hundred people assembled in Louisburgh but the commissioners failed to appear, having decided to see the people in Delphi Lodge instead. The people set out on their 11 mile walk along mountain road and pathway in driving snow and bitter cold. When they finally did manage to meet the commissioners they were refused either food or tickets of admission to the workhouse and so they began their weary, dispirited return journey. Many – some say hundreds – died along the way, many of whom were buried where they fell.

On May 18th, 2013 people will again assemble in Louisburgh and walk to Delphi Lodge carrying with them the names of those definitely known to have died on the same route in 1849 – Catherine Grady, Mary McHale, James Flynn, Mrs. Dalton and her son and daughter and the Dillon family – as well as the names of people who have died in modern famines throughout the world. This time the gates of Delphi Lodge will open in welcome. Symbols of life, a tree and potatoes (of the non-genetically modified variety), will be planted. Continue reading “Famine Walk 2013: Opening The Gates – Sowing New Seeds”