This famine monument in the Doolough Valley not far from Westport is a reminder of the Great Famine which occurred in Ireland during the middle 19th century. It was one of the most tragic periods in Irish history. The failure of the potato crop over a number of years resulted in the deaths of nearly a million people while emigration accounted for the departure of nearly three million more who desperately departed in search of a new life in America aboard so called 'coffin ships' in which the vast majority perished, never to make their destination.
The population of the country was reduced by half with western Ireland suffering the most from the counties of Donegal to Cork. The simple monument at Doolough is a sad but fitting reminder of the horrific sufferings that befell the Irish people during that time.