land at twenty old pennies (20>240) became fifteen shillings (180>240) per acre before the end of the century with a premium paid by flax growers. The results of which brought employment and management to the Headfort estates and quickly led to the setting up of markets and fairs in Virginia where local produce including flax yarn and linen was traded on the streets. Virginia's population doubled between the census years of 1821 to 1841, and there was rapid construction in the town, leading to the Main Street as it is seen today. Successive Marquesses of Headfort created their own private demesne and a hunting lodge (now Park Hotel) overlooking Lough Ramor. Famine and emigration The Great Hunger, caused by successive failures in the potato crop and the export of other food sources by the indifferent English colonialists, brought with it extreme hardship for the poorer classes, with death due to diseases like typhus and cholera, prevalent due to poor sanitation, contaminated drinking water and other poor living conditions. Starvation, which impacted many parts of the country, was averted in Virginia due to the efforts of the local Famine Relief Committee, who made extra rations of Indian meal available in return for hard labour, this included women and children breaking stones for making roads and the building of the local Catholic church which took place during 1845 on lands donated by the landlord. In subsequent years Virginia prospered with the introduction of a butter market in 1856, followed by the opening of the Great Northern Railway (GNR) line between Kells and Oldcastle in March 1863. Cattle and livestock could then be moved for export, however, this also meant that products such as coal and beer could be transported from the larger towns into rural areas which led to the closure of the local malt brewery and several bakeries in the town. Perhaps the most famous Virginia emigrant was General Philip H. Sheridan (1831-1888), whose parents came from nearby Killinkere, left Ireland around 1830 and settled in America. Sheridan achieved success, and notoriety, through a military career, particularly during the American Civil War. President Lincoln stated, "this Sheridan is a little Irishman, but a big fighter", he eventually became commanding General of the US Army and had many honours bestowed upon him. The closure of the Virginia Roads railway station, and GNR line, in 1958, came about as Ireland's population fell to