Carsie Blanton's 'Little Flame' Gleann Dhúlocha County Mayo

This is Carsie Blanton's song 'Little Flame' recorded at Gleann Dhúlocha Co.Mayo . Carsie is on the Global Sumid Flotilla on it's way to Gaza.

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I had a very auspicious event and met a remarkable man named Joe Murray while there (he agreed to be on camera and explain the monument but unfortunately the audio failed me due to the winds)

Joe just retired from AFRI (Action From Ireland) who in 1988 developed the famine walk from Delphi Lodge to Louisburgh to retrace and commemorate the steps of those who took the journey.

https://www.afri.ie/

Joe is no longer able to do the walk but is currently cycling the route 5 times, in his own words “in honour of my friends who died along the way, in solidarity with the people of Gaza, Sudan and all the victims of the colonial empire that’s visiting death and destruction on the poor of the world".

The monument was erected in 1994 unveiled by Karen Gearan of the Dunnes Stores Strikers, 10 young workers who refused to handle the fruits of apartheid.

Joe and friends travelled to the inauguration of Nelson Mandela on the invitation of Bishop Desmond Tutu who had done the walk previously.

The following is from the Michael Davitt Museum:

The Doolough Tragedy is an event that took place during the Great Irish Famine in south west County Mayo.
Around 600 in total including women and children - were starving as a result of the potato famine in Louisburgh alone.
On Friday 30th March 1849 two officials of the Westport Poor Law Union arrived in Louisburg to inspect those people in receipt of outdoor relief in order to verify that they should continue to receive it. For some reason the inspection did not take place and the officials went on to Delphi Lodge, a hunting lodge twelve miles south of Louisburgh.

The people who had gathered for the inspection were thus instructed to appear at Delphi Lodge at 7am the following morning if they wished to continue receiving relief. For much of the night and day that followed therefore seemingly hundreds of destitute and starving people had to undertake what for them, given their existing state of debilitation, was an extremely fatiguing journey, in very bad weather.

When they eventually got to Delphi Lodge, they were told that the officials could not be disturbed while they were taking their lunch. When they finally did see them, the people were sent away empty-handed and most of them died on the journey back. Later, people found corpses by the side of the road with grass in their mouths that they had been eating for want of food.

A monument in Doolough valley has an inscription from Mahatma Gandhi: "How can men feel themselves honoured by the humiliation of their fellow beings?”

filmed by Brian Roe.