Rosie O`Donnell cries over family history

The comedienne broke down after finding out that her great-grandparents had lived in extreme poverty before emigrating to Canada during the Irish Potato Famine.

O'Donnell flew to Ireland's County Kildare to research her family history as part of the NBC show Who Do You Think You Are?.

'It is really sad to know that your own relatives suffered in this kind of way. It is so sad, overwhelmingly sad, so sad that it has given me a stomach ache,' O'Donnell said after her visit to a workhouse similar to the one her relatives stayed in.

'I only knew one thing, that I had a mother who died, and that felt like an unlivable, unbearable tragedy.

'But now I think to myself that her life existed because of the suffering and pain of these people.

'It does not diminish my own suffering but it's no longer the focal point of my existence. I think that is a gift.'