Overview
In May 1847 the landlord of the Strokestown estate, Major Denis Mahon, forced 1,490 of his tenants and their families off the land and onto the road to Dublin, to sail from there via Liverpool to Canada. They are remembered locally as the Missing 1,490. The National Famine Way is the 165 km trail that retraces their walk, from the National Famine Museum at Strokestown Park in County Roscommon to the Dublin docklands.
It’s waymarked with a yellow arrow on a black background, suits both walkers and cyclists, and is graded easy. Most people take 6 to 10 days on foot, or 3 to 5 by bike, but it’s deliberately broken into sections, so you can do a single day and still get the point of it. If you have only one day, start at the museum: the Roscommon section runs 18 km from Strokestown Park House to Tarmonbarry, almost entirely off-road along the Royal Canal towpath, and the museum itself is the context that makes the rest of the trail land.
History and background
The Atlantic crossing that followed was brutal. Almost a third of the emigrants died at sea, on the overcrowded vessels remembered as “coffin ships”.
The trail turns that history into something you can walk. Its emblem is a pair of bronze children’s shoes, cast from a real pair found bound together in the roof of an estate cottage. More than thirty pairs are set along the route, roughly one every five kilometres, and each one links to a free app carrying the fictionalised diary of 12-year-old Daniel Tighe, written by Marita Conlon-McKenna. Through the app you get audio, historical context and video that follow families like the Tighes on the road.
Launched in 2019 and run through the National Famine Museum by the Irish Heritage Trust, the project has since grown into the Global Irish Famine Way, which places bronze shoe markers in diaspora communities abroad and aims to span more than 40,000 km.
Walking the trail
The route is self-guided, on public rights-of-way, quiet country lanes and canal towpaths. It runs through six counties – Roscommon, Longford, Westmeath, Meath, Kildare and Dublin – and is bookended by two museums: it begins at the National Famine Museum at Strokestown Park and ends at EPIC, The Irish Emigration Museum in the Dublin docklands.
Along the way you can carry an Official Pack: a passport-style guidebook for collecting stamps at more than thirty locations, a symbolic ship ticket for one of the original famine families, and a certificate of completion at EPIC.
Key stops and heritage sites
The trail threads together a lot of history beyond the famine itself:
- Strokestown Park glass wall – the memorial at the trailhead that names the 1,490.
- Scramogue and Ballykilcline – near the site of the 1840s Ballykilcline rent strike, a rare case of organised local resistance.
- Corlea Trackway – a preserved Iron Age oak plank road dated to 148 BC, a short detour off the route.
- Mullingar and Maynooth – workhouse-era history in Mullingar; Carton House and Ireland’s first seminary at Maynooth, founded in 1795.
- Custom House Quay – the finish, where Rowan Gillespie’s gaunt bronze figures echo the shoes back at Strokestown.
Glasnevin Cemetery, with its O’Connell Tower, and the Jeanie Johnston famine-ship replica on Dublin’s quays both sit close to the trail’s end if you want to round out the story.
Practical information
Navigation and app: the free National Famine Way app (iOS and Android) gives GPS navigation, audio stories and links to nearby sites. Download it before you set out, because mobile signal is patchy in rural stretches.
Maps: detailed PDF route maps are on the official website, split into 17 sections from Strokestown to the Liffey. Ordnance Survey Ireland sheets 33, 40, 41, 48, 49 and 50 also cover the route.
Accommodation: the trail passes through Strokestown, Cloondara, Ballymahon, Mullingar and Maynooth, among others. B&Bs, guesthouses and hotels are plentiful, but summer demand is high, so book your stops weeks ahead.
Access: the museum, café, gift shop and ground floor of Strokestown Park House are wheelchair accessible, and there is free parking for cars and coaches with disabled bays. The trail itself is mostly off-road canal towpath in the Roscommon section, but only buggy-accessible in parts; check individual venues if you have mobility needs.
Getting there: Strokestown is reached via the N5 and by bus from Athlone or Roscommon town. The Dublin finish is well served by Luas, DART and Dublin Bus. The trail is open year-round, with the best walking between April and October.
Download the app before you leave the car park, buy the passport at the museum, and give yourself time to stand at each pair of shoes and listen. That’s the walk, not the distance.