You finally reach the brow of one last hill before the Doo Lough Pass opens up before you, which in any weather is something to behold. On the steep decline into the valley, a lonesome Celtic cross stands on the left hand side of the road with the words of Mahatma Gandhi inscribed: "How can men feel themselves honoured by the humiliation of their fellow beings?”
The cross commemorates a dark moment in history, when, in 1849 several hundred famine-stricken souls walked the 19km trek to Delphi from Louisburgh to satisfy a bureaucratic requirement. On Friday 30 March 1849, officials from the Westport Poor Law Union were set the task of determining who among the poor in the region was eligible for relief. After summoning hundreds of desperate people to their offices in Louisburgh, the officials reconvened to Delphi Lodge, some 19km from Louisburgh, leaving the poor starving people no choice but to follow them on foot. The image of hundreds of hungry, feeble people trudging towards Delphi in harsh weather, and the fact that many did not survive the day, is stark one, which is summoned annually during The Famine Walk, which begins in Louisburgh and walks through Doo Lough to Delphi as they did. Sponsored by Afri, a human rights organisation, it is a poignant commemoration of the tragic event.
The Doo Lough Loop is a cyclist’s paradise. Walkers and anglers fare well in this valley which is framed by the Sheeffry mountain range with a pristine lake in the centre. The beautiful Ashleigh Falls waterfall is nearby and salmon stock is good in here.
If meandering from Louisburgh to Leenane, you will notice sheep are everywhere and for a slice of the sheep farming life step into Glen Keen Farm. Incorporating 1,400 acres plus commonage it commands over 5,500 acres, it larger than some national parks and not typical of an average sheep farm, but spectacularly located with waterfalls and the meandering Carrowniskey River between the Sheeffry and Mweelrea mountain ranges en route. This is The Lonesome West that playwright and filmmaker, Martin McDonagh writes about in his trilogy of plays set here. Starkly beautiful with a rich history.