Ireland’s updated National Famine Museum reopening

Photo: The National Famine Museum

The immersive National Famine Museum, located in Ireland’s Strokestown Park House and Gardens in County Roscommon, reopened following a multimillion-dollar redevelopment. 

The museum, which brings to life the stories of those who suffered during Ireland’s Great Famine, features a new multimedia visitor center.

The museum tells the story of the famine through the personal tragedies of the tenants on the Strokestown Estate, including the forced emigration of 1,490 people from the estate in 1847.

Artifacts and documents from Strokestown’s archive, which houses the largest collection of material relating to the Great Famine, are showcased throughout the museum.

Visitors to the National Famine Museum can also take a guided tour of Strokestown House, which retains its original furnishings, and stroll through the walled gardens and woodland throughout the estate.

The National Famine Museum is the starting point for the National Famine Way, a walking and cycling trail following in the footsteps of the Strokestown tenants who, after they failed to pay their rent, were marched from Roscommon to Dublin to board the emigrant ships.

Along the way are some 30 bronze sculptures of children’s shoes, a reminder of the youngest tenants who walked the route.

source: Travel Weekly