Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Intheearly1800s,CountyMayo'sruralfolkdependedalmostexclusively onthepotato
forfoodandwerethehardesthitwhentheGreatPotatoFaminecamein1845.Inthewinter
of 1849, about 600 starving Irish walked 12 miles from Louisburgh to Delphi Lodge, hop-
ing to get food from their landlord, but they were turned away. On the walk back, almost
200 of them died along the side of this road. Today, the road still seems to echo with
the despair of those hungry souls, and it inspires an annual walk that commemorates the
tragedy. Archbishop Desmond Tutu made the walk in 1991, shortly before South Africa
ended its apartheid system.
• Continue south on R-335. You'll get a fine view of
Aasleagh Falls
on the left. In late
May, the banks below the falls explode with lush, wild, purple rhododendron blossoms.
Cross the bridge after the falls, and turn right onto N-59 toward Leenane. You'll drive
along Killary Harbor, an Irish example of a fjord. This long, narrow body of water was
carved by an advancing glacier.
