Life on our islands- bleak or beautiful?

jonniebgood1

When I asked them if there were any trees in the island they held a hurried consultation in Gaelic, and then the man asked if 'tree' meant the same thing as 'bush,' for if so there were a few in sheltered hollows to the east. (from part I of The Aran Islands by J. M. Synge

Synge visited the Aran Islands about 110 years ago and recorded what he saw across a few visits. He paints a sometimes bleak and sometimes beautiful picture of life on the islands that many see as a bit patronising. As a first hand account it is valuable and his simple experiences are well explained. Given, he is a playwright but this can convey the character and charm of what he sees:

The kitchen itself, where I will spend most of my time, is full of beauty and distinction. The red dresses of the women who cluster round the fire on their stools give a glow of almost Eastern richness, and the walls have been toned by the turf-smoke to a soft brown that blends with the grey earth-colour of the floor. Many sorts of fishing-tackle, and the nets and oil-skins of the men, are hung upon the walls or among the open rafters; and right overhead, under the thatch, there is a whole cowskin from which they make pampooties.

Every article on these islands has an almost personal character, which gives this simple life, where all art is unknown, something of the artistic beauty of medieval life. The curaghs and spinning-wheels, the tiny wooden barrels that are still much used in the place of earthenware, the home-made cradles, churns, and baskets, are all full of individuality, and being made from materials that are common here, yet to some extent peculiar to the island, they seem to exist as a natural link between the people and the world that is about them. (Part I)

This was approx. 1900 and emigration was discussed:

Of all the subjects we can talk of war seems their favourite, and the conflict between America and Spain is causing a great deal of excitement. Nearly all the families have relations who have had to cross the Atlantic, and all eat of the flour and bacon that is brought from the United States, so they have a vague fear that 'if anything happened to America,' their own island would cease to be habitable.

So what was life on the islands like through different ages. What I had in mind would be views from travel writers combined with first hand accounts to try and understand a bit more about life on Irelands off shore islands.

Any aspect is welcome- what happened on the islands during revolutions, civil war, famine as well as everyday life? Any sources for information from photos to diaries etc. Thanks.

pedroeibar1

A very detailed book is that by Brian Dornan, ‘The Inishkeas – Mayo’s lost islands’ published by Four Courts Press. Deals mainly with 1830-1930 but has much earlier detail in a chapter on the physical landscape. Chapters on Land, tenants, marriage patterns, sea & fishing, whaling, placenames, economy, power & politics, etc.. Lots of tables, old images, etc. Unless one is from/studying the area, the book is one to dip into, it's an enjoyable but studious read.

pedroeibar1

Census Ireland

1841

1851

1861

1871

1881

1891

1901

1911

1926

1936

1946

1951

1956

1961

1966

1971

1979

1981

1986

1991

1996

2002

All Islands

34,219

29,314

27,948

26,571

29,226

26,149

25,446

24,700

21,662

19,926

18,665

17,488

16,118

14,473

12,899

11,737

10,866

10,869

10,409

9,569

9,280

8,884

P. Breathnach

The Great Blasket (also visited by Synge) is probably by a wide margin the best-documented Irish island community. The island itself seems beautiful to me, whether one settles for viewing it from the mainland or one sets foot on it.

Life there was undoubtedly tough. No timber; a poor supply of turf that got used up; about 100 acres of arable land for a population that peaked at about 250; very little fresh water; a poor excuse for a harbour; a difficult, even if short, traverse to the mainland.

As with many island communities, the people had food from the sea as well as from the land. That, plus salvage from shipwrecks, enabled them to survive the famine better than their neighbours in Dunquin.

When fishing was good, the islanders benefitted, but not to the point of being prosperous: their poverty was alleviated. When fishing disimproved, their standard of living fell, and many of the young people emigrated. Eventually the population fell to a level where the community was unsustainable, and the island was abandoned in 1953.

Let's not be tempted to romanticise the hard life many island communities experienced.

cormacocomhrai

jonniebgood1 wrote: »

Any aspect is welcome- what happened on the islands during revolutions, civil war, famine as well as everyday life? Any sources for information from photos to diaries etc. Thanks.

Two Aran Islanders were interned after the 1916 Rising as well as an islander from the islands west of Carraroe. One of the Aran Islanders had been a student in st. Enda`s (Pádraic Pearse`s School in Dublin) and had taken part in the Rising. The other Aran Islander was a left wing activist.

Liam O`Flaherty (also from the Aran Islands) took the Republican side in the Civil War and was involved in left-wing circles in Dublin. (He also fought in the British army in the First World War)

During the War of Independence some Galway city men sought shelter on the Aran Islands. Inishmore was raided and an Aran Islander called Laurence McDonagh was shot dead by British Forces. In that instance it doesn`t seem to have been deliberate murder.

You should check out the book "Riotous Assemblies" for a description of what happened when a ship called the Julia ran aground off an island off the coast of Galway in the nineteenth century. Racking was big business around the coast of Galway, apparently.
Is mise
Cormac Ó Comhraí

jonniebgood1

P. Breathnach wrote: »

The Great Blasket (also visited by Synge) is probably by a wide margin the best-documented Irish island community. The island itself seems beautiful to me, whether one settles for viewing it from the mainland or one sets foot on it.

Life there was undoubtedly tough. No timber; a poor supply of turf that got used up; about 100 acres of arable land for a population that peaked at about 250; very little fresh water; a poor excuse for a harbour; a difficult, even if short, traverse to the mainland.

As with many island communities, the people had food from the sea as well as from the land. That, plus salvage from shipwrecks, enabled them to survive the famine better than their neighbours in Dunquin.

When fishing was good, the islanders benefitted, but not to the point of being prosperous: their poverty was alleviated. When fishing disimproved, their standard of living fell, and many of the young people emigrated. Eventually the population fell to a level where the community was unsustainable, and the island was abandoned in 1953.

Let's not be tempted to romanticise the hard life many island communities experienced.

The Blaskets and their literary history for such a small section of population are hard to believe. There is also a huge irony in their treatment at the hands of Irish governments. On the one hand they were celebrated for their literature and the part it played as a part of Irish culture. Yet on the other hand they received very little support to help them stay in their homes. Many people visited the islands to see what could be done but nothing came of it. The end of habitation had been predicted in An tOileánach (The Islandman) by Tomás Ó Criomhthain about 35 years before it happened:

One day there will be none left in the Blasket of all
I have mentioned in this book—and none to remember
them. I am thankful to God, who has given me the
chance to preserve from forgetfulness those days that
I have seen with my own eyes and have borne their burden,
and that when I am gone men will know what life
was like in my time and the neighbours that lived with
me. pg 324

He outlined what he saw as the difficulties along with the joys of his life on the Blaskets-

This is a crag in the midst of the great sea, and again
and again the blown surf drives right over it before the
violence of the wind, so that you daren’t put your head
out any more than a rabbit that crouches in his burrow
in Inishvickillane when the rain and the salt spume are
flying. Often would we put to sea at the dawn of day
when the weather was decent enough, and by the day’s
end our people on land would be keening us, so much
had the weather changed for the worse. It was our business
to be out in the night, and the misery of that sort
of fishing is beyond telling. I count it the worst of all
trades. Often and again the sea would drive over us so
that we could see the land no more—a long, long night
of cold like this, struggling against the sea, with often
little to get, only praying from moment to moment for
the help of God. It was rare, indeed, for us to get a full
catch, and then often we would have to cut away the
nets and let it all go with the sea. On other nights, after
all the labour of the fishing, the boats would be fairly
full, and we couldn’t make the harbour or the land, but
the swell would be rising to the green grass, the storm
blowing out of the north-west, and the great waves
breaking. We would have to flee then before the gale,
some of us to Cuan Croumha, some to Ventry Harbour,
some to Dingle.
You may understand from this that we are not to
be put in comparison with the people of the great cities
of the soft and level lands. If we deserved blame a little
at times, it would be when a drop of drink was going
round among us. The drink went to our heads the easier
because we were always worn and weary, as I have described,
like a tired horse, with never any rest or intermission.

It was a good life in those days. Shilling came on
shilling’s heels; food was plentiful, and things were
cheap. Drink was cheap, too. It wasn’t thirst for the
drink that made us want to go where it was, but only
the need to have a merry night instead of the misery
that we knew only too well before. What the drop of
drink did to us was to lift up the hearts in us, and we
would spend a day and a night ever and again in company
together when we got the chance. That’s all gone by
now, and the high heart and the fun are passing from
the world. Then we’d take the homeward way together
easy and friendly after all our revelry, like the children
of one mother, none doing hurt or harm to his fellow.

The mentions of drink are interesting- The island folk had a reputation for being wild amongst the mainland population, particularly when drinking. This was most often when storms prevented them from going home. The mainland held a type of aura for them and drink was an escape from the danger of life on the sea.

P. Breathnach

jonniebgood1 wrote: »

...
The mentions of drink are interesting- The island folk had a reputation for being wild amongst the mainland population, particularly when drinking. This was most often when storms prevented them from going home. The mainland held a type of aura for them and drink was an escape from the danger of life on the sea.

There is little doubt that the islanders liked their drink (and also their tobacco). I am pretty sure that their neighbours on the mainland shared their enthusiasm.

I doubt if the islanders actually drank that much overall. Their pub time was limited to when they were on the mainland, and there is little to indicate that they drank much on the island (although it is claimed - I can't remember where I read it - that a shebeen operated on the island for a time). I have been told by people from the area that the islanders had the reputation for being foolish in drink because they were inexperienced drinkers. A case of "an rud is annamh is íontach".

jonniebgood1

Title: A family on the Blasket Islands.


Synge took photos on the Aran Islands approx. 1900.





from http://www.aran-isles.com/blog/2009/05/my-wallet-of-photographsj-m-sy.php

CDfm

I imagine the reason the houses were stone was the land was too stony for farming so it was available as a building material.

Its all relative , the Islands were a hole.

West Cork & Kerry & parts of the West were poor compared to the rest of the country and the Islands were worse off than them.

I imagine you should compare island life with the mainland.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/exhibition/kerry/main.html


c 1900 some of what were called cottages were really mud huts.

araninfo

jonniebgood1 wrote: »

Title: A family on the Blasket Islands.


Synge took photos on the Aran Islands approx. 1900.





from http://www.aran-isles.com/blog/2009/05/my-wallet-of-photographsj-m-sy.php

Nice photos. If you like the Aran islands "like" us on Facebook.
John.

P. Breathnach

jonniebgood1 wrote: »

Synge took photos on the Aran Islands approx. 1900.

This is not an Aran picture; it's one Synge took on the Great Blasket in 1905. The man on the right is Pádraig Ó Catháin, the island's "king" (and postman). The picture has been cropped on the right to exclude Pádraig's daughter Cáit, reputedly the person on whom Synge modelled Pegeen Mike in The Playboy of the Western World.

The felt roof is typical of the Blasket: the islanders did not have straw or reeds.

pedroeibar1

P. Breathnach wrote: »

....... The picture has been cropped on the right to exclude Pádraig's daughter Cáit, .............

And the pig in the earlier photo is called Ambros - Nuair bhi Ambros beag, bhi boladh beag aige. Nuair thosaigh toirt ag teacht ann, mheadaigh an boladh da reir. Nuair bhi se mor, bhi an boladh mor.
Map shows Myles' Blaskets, taken from my first edition

jonniebgood1

araninfo wrote: »

Nice photos. If you like the Aran islands "like" us on Facebook.
John.

Thanks Araninfo.

Can you suggest good sources for reliable information on life on the Aran islands pre 1900?

Judgement Day

Life on Cape Clear Island in west Cork must have been good compared to some of the other islands. Good land and fishing. It's a birdwatchers paradise today and attracts visitors from all over the World. Three pubs on my last visit and NO gardai! Hardly a tree on the place and I can't remember what fuel they use but probably gas and electricity.

Some nice pics here: http://www.iftn.ie/locationsireland/irishlocationstype/sublinks_static1/towns_villages/?act1=record&aid=90&rid=81&only=1&tpl=archive3locations&force=1

A regular ferry service operates between Cape Clear and Baltimore on the mainland. More info here: http://www.capeclearisland.eu

Ostrom

pedroeibar1 wrote: »

A very detailed book is that by Brian Dornan, ‘The Inishkeas – Mayo’s lost islands’ published by Four Courts Press. Deals mainly with 1830-1930 but has much earlier detail in a chapter on the physical landscape. Chapters on Land, tenants, marriage patterns, sea & fishing, whaling, placenames, economy, power & politics, etc.. Lots of tables, old images, etc. Unless one is from/studying the area, the book is one to dip into, it's an enjoyable but studious read.

Also worth a look are Fred Aalen and Hugh Brody's 'Gola: The Life and Days of an Island Community', and Kevin Whelan's contribution to the 'New Survey of Clare Island' (volume four I think). Papers of the original survey under Praeger are in the RIA library, but were published in edited form in the Journal Proceedings (PRIA), (around 1910 onward) if anyone has access to JSTOR.

One of the better 'subjective' accounts I've come across is Robin Flower's account of his visits to the Blaskets at the turn of the century, 'The Western Island'. Also Robin Fox's ethnography of Tory (a demanding read) goes into kinship and tenure in great detail. I believe he also elaborates on the function of the rí which he related to the Gaelic practice of tanistry (also reckoning of kinship was still in places based on Derbhfine throughout Fox's research), and the more modern depution of 'headman' within rundale settlements.

Its been a while since I've read any of the above - it may not have been Fox who argued the gealic survival interpretation - possibly Estyn Evans?

pedroeibar1

jonniebgood1 wrote: »

Any aspect is welcome- what happened on the islands during revolutions, civil war, famine as well as everyday life? Any sources for information from photos to diaries etc. Thanks.

Prendergast mentions that the Aran Islands were used by the Cromwellians to imprison Catholic priests:
..........on 27th February, 1657,they referred it to His Excellency to consider where the priests then in prison in Dublin might be most safely disposed of ; and thenceforth the Isles of Arran, lying out thirty miles in the Atlantic, opposite the entrance to the Bay of Galway, and the Isle of Innisboffin, off the coast of Connemara, became their prisons. In these storm-beaten islands they dwelt in colonies during the three concluding years of the Commonwealth rule in Ireland, in cabins built for them by the Government, and maintained on an allowance of six-pence a day.(1)

(1To Col. Thos. Sadleir, Governor of Galway, the sum of £100 upon account, to be by him issued as he shall conceive meet for the maintenance of such Popish priests as are or shall be confined in the island of Buffin, after the allowance of sixpence per diem each. And for building of cabbins, and other necessary accommodation for them. Dated 3rd July, 1657."

Treasury Warrants, p. 352.
I have read somewhere that during the Famine island populations did not suffer as much as the mainland they were isolated from the prevalent diseases of typhoid & cholera. The book on the Inishkeas I mentioned above has a bit in it on how the locals would not allow boats from the mainland to land and pushed them away with poles.
The population claim is supported by the figures for Aran, where in 1841 the total population was 3,521 and in 1851 it had dropped by only 5% to 3,333. However, the population of Dursey (at the end of the Beara peninsula) for the same years dropped from 348 to 115; for the Great Blasket the drop was from 153 to 97 (CSO figs.)


FWIW, Dalkey Island was used as a refuge when the plague hit Dublin in 1575.

Ostrom

pedroeibar1 wrote: »

Treasury Warrants, p. 352.
I have read somewhere that during the Famine island populations did not suffer as much as the mainland they were isolated from the prevalent diseases of typhoid & cholera. The book on the Inishkeas I mentioned above has a bit in it on how the locals would not allow boats from the mainland to land and pushed them away with poles.
The population claim is supported by the figures for Aran, where in 1841 the total population was 3,521 and in 1851 it had dropped by only 5% to 3,333. However, the population of Dursey (at the end of the Beara peninsula) for the same years dropped from 348 to 115; for the Great Blasket the drop was from 153 to 97 (CSO figs.)


FWIW, Dalkey Island was used as a refuge when the plague hit Dublin in 1575.

This was the case for Aran, as the blight did not reach any of the Islands.

jonniebgood1

efla wrote: »

This was the case for Aran, as the blight did not reach any of the Islands.

I was not aware of that.

Having looked up some figures parts of Galway county lost some 40% of its population during the famine. The Aran Islands lost 9.5% of its poulation in this time so they did fare better. The reason they lost people was disease brought from the mainland by people fleeing the conditions in Galway.

pedroeibar1

jonniebgood1 wrote: »

I was not aware of that.

Having looked up some figures parts of Galway county lost some 40% of its population during the famine. The Aran Islands lost 9.5% of its poulation in this time so they did fare better. The reason they lost people was disease brought from the mainland by people fleeing the conditions in Galway.

Not sure where O'Grada got that figure - my 5% (actually 5.33%) was taken from the CSO census stats for offshore islands. Link is at
http://www.cso.ie/px/pxeirestat/Statire/SelectVarVal/Define.asp?maintable=CNA17

dubhthach

pedroeibar1 wrote: »

Not sure where O'Grada got that figure - my 5% (actually 5.33%) was taken from the CSO census stats for offshore islands. Link is at
http://www.cso.ie/px/pxeirestat/Statire/SelectVarVal/Define.asp?maintable=CNA17

I'm assuming he factor in a certain percentage growth from 1841-1845 (say based off growth rate between 1831 and 1841). Often people just look at raw figures for 1841 and 1851 and compare/contrast. That's just a guess on my part though