Photo: Doo Lough

Driving through County Mayo on Ireland's west coast, we came across one of the most serene places I've ever seen. Rugged green mountains rise above the dark blue lake. A ribbon of road skirts around the water. The only sounds are the wind and the bleating of sheep grazing on the hillside. Doo Lough is also a poignant place.The Celtic cross commemorates hundreds of Irish Famine victims who died on the road through this valley trying to get relief from their terrible plight. How can a place of such beauty have been a place of such suffering?