Ukrainian ambassador to lead the Famine 1848 Walk near Kilkenny border

The Ukrainian Ambassador to Ireland, Ms Larysa Gerasko, will lead this year’s annual Famine 1848 Walk in Ballingarry in South Tipperary on Saturday, 30 July at 3pm.

Welcoming the visit of the Ambassador as Walk Leader, the historian Dr Thomas Mc Grath on behalf of the Ballingarry 1848 Society stated:

"The walk this year is an opportunity for everyone to come out and express our solidarity with the Ukrainian Ambassador and Ukrainian attendees on the terrible suffering they have endured since the Russian invasion of their country on February 24’.

"Historic parallels between the experience of famine in Ireland and Ukraine and the contemporary danger of international famine will be drawn and referenced on the Walk. At the beginning of the Great Irish Famine, food was exported from the country and a million people died and another million fled into exile. In the famine in Ukraine in 1932-1933, many millions died. The Ukrainian famine known as the Holodomor was a man-made famine in a land traditionally described as ‘the bread basket of Europe’. The Soviet dictator Stalin took all the grain out of Ukraine and millions of Ukrainians starved to death as a result. In both the Irish and Ukrainian famines the pursuit of ideology was at the expense of people’s lives. 

"Today, the threat of more famine in the world is also a consequence of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It has been predicted by the United Nations food relief agency, that the inability of the Ukrainians to export their vast supply of grain, because of the Russian blockade in the Black Sea, is likely to lead to famines in the Middle East and in Africa. Third world countries rely on receiving shipments of Ukrainian grain.

"Ukraine is now fighting for its very survival as a nation in the face of blatant Russian aggression. As Ukraine strives to maintain its independence, Ukrainian displaced people have been welcomed into Ireland and throughout the European Union.

"In 1848, the great year of revolutions across Europe, revolutionary activity stretched from west to east, from Ireland to Ukraine. In Lviv, then under Austrian control, the Ukrainians of the Habsburg Empire initiated their first political organisation. In Kyiv the year before, the poet and artist, Taras Shevchenko, a major figure of the Ukrainian national revival, was arrested by the Russian authorities. All his life and creative work were dedicated to the people of Ukraine. Statues of him can now be seen all over the country.

"In Ireland in 1848 in the middle of the Great Famine, and as a response to it, the Young Irelanders sought Irish independence. They tried, under the leadership of William Smith O’Brien, MP, to stage a bloodless revolution but were defeated in Ballingarry when confronted by the force of the British state," he said.

The Famine 1848 Walk takes place, as usual, from the Young Ireland 1848 and National Flag monument in the village of The Commons to the national heritage monument, museum and visitor attraction, Famine Warhouse 1848, scene of the Rising and an important site in the European history of the 1848 Revolutions. The Walk covers a mile and a half of gently ascending ground and usually takes about forty-five minutes to reach the house. From the field in front of the house there are scenic and extensive views at 1,100 feet across south Leinster. The Ambassador will deliver the Walk Leader’s speech in English and Ukrainian once walkers reach the house. Walkers are then free to complete the circuit, if they wish, and return to the starting point in The Commons by the Upper Road. 

The Walk, an annual act of witness and remembrance at this site of memory, is now in its sixteenth year. It takes place whether it rains or it shines. Participants are advised to be prepared for changeable Irish weather conditions in the space of a few minutes and to bring both a sun hat and an umbrella. 

Dr Mc Grath stated:

‘We anticipate that Ukrainians who are displaced people in Ireland will want to make the walk in support of their country and their Ambassador. We invite them to attend and we will welcome them. As a gesture of support for the Ukrainians, Tipperary walkers are asked to bring their Tipperary flags which are so similar to the colours of the Ukrainian national flag’.