Historian to lead 1848 Famine Walk just over the border with Kilkenny

This year’s seventeenth annual Famine 1848 Walk in Ballingarry takes place on Saturday, July 29, and will be led by the historian Dr Thomas Mc Grath, who is from Ballingarry.

The walk commemorates all those who suffered and died during the Great Famine and the 1848 Rising which took place in Ballingarry in the middle of the Famine. The walk is always held on the last Saturday of July and this year it falls on the 175th anniversary of the Rising to the exact date and day.

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From this week's Freshford Notes

The walk commences at 3pm at the Young Ireland 1848 and National Flag monument in the village of the Commons and proceeds to Famine Warhouse 1848, the scene of the Rising, now an OPW national heritage museum and attraction.

The walk follows the route of the Rising and takes less than hour to reach the house. Walkers may wish to return to the Commons by the upper road thus completing a circuit of about four miles.

This year’s walk leader Dr Thomas Mc Grath is a well-known historian who was brought up at the Park, Ballingarry, within site of Warhouse Hill. He has been a persistent driving force behind 1848 commemorative activities in Ballingarry since the mid-1980s.

The walk in Ballingarry is organised by the Ballingarry 1848 committee of Martin Maher (chair), Marie Barry (secretary), Thomas Mc Grath, John Webster (OPW), Anthony Ivors Sr and Jr, and Jimmy Meagher.