National Famine Way™ Roadshow

One of Ireland’s newest long distance trails passes through Fingal along the Royal Canal towpath from Clonsilla to Ashtown in Castleknock.

The National Famine Way™ is a 165km way marked walking and cycling trail commemorating a heartbreaking walk of forced emigration which took place in 1847 at the height of the Irish famine. It begins at the memorial glass wall at The National Famine Museum | Strokestown Park in Roscommon and continues through six counties to EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum in Dublin’s Docklands. The route is poignantly marked by more than 30 pairs of bronze children’s shoes and the route and associated stories can be followed through a free app. Walkers can also purchase an official passport to get stamped along the route.

The National Famine Way™ Roadshow goes on tour during March 2026, visiting seven locations along the route, and will be in Blanchardstown in Fingal on Thursday 19^th March. Each roadshow will consist of informative talks and presentations by leading local and international famine historians, led by Caroilín Callery, founder of the National Famine Way™.

The Blanchardstown Roadshow event takes place on Thursday 19^th March at 2pm in Blanchardstown Library and everyone is welcome to attend. There is no admission charge, but it is essential to register in advance by emailing nationalfamineway@gmail.com. Speakers include Caroilín Callery who is a genuine authority on the National Famine Way which she has walked numerous times, Lar Joye, Port Heritage Director at Dublin Port, and local historian Christine Moore of the Clonsilla & Porterstown Heritage Society.

Speaking about the 2026 Roadshow, Caroilín Calleary said, “I am so pleased to be involved in this, the second Roadshow. It’s a great opportunity to visit each of the communities along the route again making the history of the Irish famine more visible.  We hope to deepen the connections in each while honouring the memory of Strokestown’s missing 1490 and those of each of the communities we pass through many of whom walked the same trail”.

These free events bring a poignant yet compellingly fascinating part of our history to life. The national walking route is centred around the forced march of 1,490 emigrants from Strokestown, Co. Roscommon.

The National Famine Way™ Roadshow is presented by the Irish Heritage Trust in collaboration with the seven local authorities along the trail (Roscommon County Council, Longford County Council, Westmeath County Council, Meath County Council, Kildare County Council, Fingal County Council and Dublin City Council).

Each event will include different speakers as well as local expert historians who can explain the famine emigrant story with county specific knowledge. This is a superb opportunity to ask questions of the experts and to examine the local connections. Updates on speakers at each local event will be given through www.nationalfamineway.ie.

A nine day Remembrance Walk along the full route will take place from 16^th-24^th May 2026.