The Walk of the Bronze Shoes
Commemorating the Irish Famine migrant journey from Strokestown to Liverpool
Liverpool has a long history of welcoming the Irish, whether settling in the city or passing through. It was to this city, in the 1840s, that hundreds of thousands Irish people made their way, fleeing starvation and death, and from Liverpool set sail around the world.
Among their number were 1,490 people, two thirds of them children, evicted from their homes in the Strokestown Estate in Roscommon, when the landowner, Denis Mahon, arranged for their ‘assisted passage’ from his home via Liverpool to Canada.
The National Famine Way was devised to mark the eviction and departure of these Irish Famine poor. The 165km cross-country pilgrim walk runs from The National Famine Museum at Strokestown Park, Roscommon to The Jeanie Johnston Famine Ship and EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum in Dublin. The trail is marked by over 30 Bronze Shoes, cast from a pair of children’s shoes found bound together in the roof of a 19th century cottage.
In 2024, the National Famine Way became global, with the bronze shoes that mark the trail being carried to Liverpool and to Canada, following the journeys of Irish Famine emigrants.
Representatives from the Liverpool Irish Festival, custodians of the Liverpool Irish Famine Trail, travelled to Strokestown in May 2024 to walk the National Famine Way, carrying with them the bronze shoes sculpture bound for Liverpool. They joined Ireland’s then-Ambassador to Canada, Dr Eamonn McKee and Famine Museum Director Caroilin Callery, following the route of the Strokestown tenants to Dublin over six days.
Their pilgrim’s progress was recorded in digital postcards. Film-maker Ayls McQueen also travelled with the group, documenting their walk and interviewing participants, for a documentary film that will be released later this year.
You can see a trailer for the film below.
Strokestown to Liverpool | The Walk of the Bronze Shoes
Liverpool Irish Festival Artistic Director and CEO, Emma Smith, reflected on the her participation in the Walk “Touching on migration, nostalgia, host communities, loss and harm, diaspora lives, legacy and resilience, the Irish Famine still has many stories to reveal.”.
In October 2024, the Liverpool Irish Famine memorial was held, as part of the annual Liverpool Irish Festival, beginning with a walk with the bronze shoes from Clarence Dock — where 1.3m Irish migrants arrived during An Gorta Mór — to the Irish Famine Memorial at St Luke’s Church. Among the hundreds taking part were Lord Mayor of Liverpool, Richard Kemp and Metro Mayor of Liverpool City Region Steve Rotheram.
As part of the redevelopment of the Liverpool Irish Famine Trail, with funding from the UK National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Festival commissioned a new song ‘The Ullaloo’ by local songwriters Ian Cantwell and Marty Snape. It was performed for the first time at the memorial service by the Liverpool Irish Centre Choir.
At the memorial, Martin Fraser, Ambassador of Ireland to Great Britain, paid tribute to the Great Hunger Commemoration Committee, the original developers of the Liverpool Irish Famine Trail, whose work served to highlight and memorialise this important aspect of our shared history.
He also thanked all those involved in the revival of the Trail, noting “The work you are doing will ensure that generations to come can learn of the role the Irish played in the development of Liverpool, and the centrality of the City of Liverpool in the global story of the Irish.”
Sarah Mangan, Consul General of Ireland for the North of England said “We continue to commemorate the famine because its impact endures today, and because its causes are still present in our world. Combating hunger and under-nutrition has been a cornerstone of Ireland’s development programme since its inception. Our work on hunger is guided by Ireland’s own national story.”
The bronze shoes will remain in Liverpool as a poignant symbol of the shared history of Liverpool and Ireland, a history both devastating and enriching.