Tulsk was one stop on a route from Ballina to Longford and vice versa. Leaving Ballina each morning at 10 a.m. (circa 1842) a mail coach with passengers would arrive in Tulsk at approx. 6 p.m, taking on average a further hour to reach Strokestown, and reaching Longford at 9 p.m. In the opposite direction a Bianconi car passed through Tulsk at approx. 8.50 each morning. It would then be due to arrive in Ballinagare one hour later. What travelers may have seen is open to question, but this was at a time when Tulsk was particularly ravaged by poverty, and suffered death and emigration on a large scale in subsequent years. For instance, as recorded by Maynooth University Population Change Atlas, what we now know as Tulsk parish had a population of 11,101 in 1841. Ten years later that figure dropped to 6,955. In 1861 Tulsk's population had more than halved from that of the eve of the Famine, with 5,539 persons. The Bianconi system grew less popular in the 1850s when rail service began, but many routes such as this one, continued for some time. Outdoor Rallies Closer in time - at the start of the 20th century - in October 1903 the leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party John Redmond held a mass outdoor rally or "National Meeting" in Tulsk, for the people of County Roscommon. The party's dominant ideology was legislative independence for the country (Home Rule), with land reform also central to their mandate. On this particular inclement October Sunday, held in a field beside the village; Redmond addressed thousands on these two issues, both on local level and national level agendas. Tulsk was decided as the venue as it was geographically central to the county. Redmond arrived in the afternoon on horse-drawn side car from Roscommon town, where he had spent the previous night, after a train journey from Dublin. The culture of mass meetings in 19th century Ireland had begun with Daniel O'Connell's quest for Catholic emancipation, and between 1880 and 1920 there had been (at least, as recorded) eight to 10 such meetings in Tulsk. At this time (1903) Tulsk parish's population has been recorded at 3,275, having dropped further from the 5,539 recorded in 1861. World War 1 Tulsk was no different from most other British and Irish villages and towns during World War One, in that it contributed to the Allied effort of resisting the Central Powers' threat to European stability.