Complementing our work on the annual Liverpool Irish Famine Memorial, this year’s Walk of the Bronze Shoes has created a new annual opportunity. ❤️📍🔱

For those who don’t know, members of our Festival team walked a pair of bronze shoes from Co Roscommon (northwest Ireland) to Dublin (east coast of Ireland); sailed them to Holyhead and took them from Seacombe to Mersey Ports, before walking them to Clarence Dock Gates and on to the Famine Memorial. Why?

The bronze shoes are a marker of the National Famine Way in Ireland and Liverpool’s pair — teamed with 15-pairs in North America — are the first to form the Global Irish Famine Way.

Clarence Dock is where 1.3+m Irish Famine poor came into Liverpool. The Liverpool Irish Famine Memorial (unveiled in 1998) at St Luke’s Bombed Out Church remembers the 300k+that stayed in Liverpool, the 1m+ that sailed over seas and the 2m+ that died. The journey between the two locations is indicative of the struggles of those sent here.

We’ll repeat the Clarence Dock to St Luke’s Bombed Out Church walk annually, with the shoes, until we find them a permanent home and we welcome you to join us. A vigil map and order of service will be given to those who join us. This in an outdoor walk in October; please be weather prepared, comfortable and hydrated.

Stewards will help people walk the way and maps and information will be provided at the site on the morning. A small ceremony will start the vigil, with walkers from the Walk of the Bronze Shoes, and we will be greeted at the memorial site by the Solstice Choir (County Roscommon). We thank them for their support.

This activity has been made possible with funds from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. For more on the Liverpool Irish Famine Trail, use this link.

Meeting point

We ask people to join us from 10.15am. Please note the location provided for this is the destination, not the meeting place. Please congregate at Clarence Dock Gates, on the water side of Regent Road, facing the junction of Cotton Street.