The South Isles of Aran Part 6

In answer to Mr. Concannon: We claim to be ent.i.tled to take the seaweed for manure. We have no turf, nor timber to burn, and have to pay 3 a year for two boat loads of turf. The stock on his farm was a cow and a veal calf, a horse, five sheep, and eight lambs. Shears them every year, but the wool he never sells as he keeps it for his family. As for tillage, he had about eighty stone of potatoes last year, and by his stock he realized 12; that includes 6 7_s._ 6_d._ that he received for a couple of veal calves. He had no grain crops. He had a couple of pigs too. As for his stock, maybe it's little he'd have out of them coming home to his wife and childher, and his was a nice wife, thanks be to G.o.d. His sheep he brings by boat to the county of Clare, sells them at the fair of Ennistymon. Has to pay freight 3_d._ a head for sheep and lambs. His cattle and pigs he puts on the mail boat and sails them to Galway--the freight being 2_s._ 6_d._ for calves, and a shilling a head for pigs. And wasn't he sixteen days weatherbound in Galway last February, after the fair-day?

Mr. Concannon would produce no valuer, he felt perfect confidence in the commissioners.

This closed the tenant's case.

Mr. Thompson, of Clonskea Castle, county Dublin, sworn. Is the agent on the estate; succeeded his father, who had been agent for many years.

Witness has in his custody all the rentals and leases of the estate from 1794. "The rental in 1800 was 2143, as fixed by valuation in that year.

In 1812 the rental was 2668; in 1827, 2145 10_s._ 4_d._; in 1846, 1937 17_s._ 7_d._; in 1881, 2067; in 1885, 2067; the acreage of the islands being 11,288 acres. The lands are in the hands of tenants, with the exception of two croggeries which are in my occupation."

The learned chairman, Mr. Crean, B.L., inquired what a croggery meant.

Witness said that "croggery" was a very ancient name for fourths. The entire islands were divided into townlands, which townlands contained 4 or 6 quarters each, every quarter containing 16 croggeries, and every croggery containing 16 acres. Inishmore thus contained 4 townlands and 4t. 6qrs. 16crog. 16ac. = 6144 acres. On Inishmaan there are two townlands, which contain 6 quarters each. On Inisheer there is only one townland containing 4 quarters. The tenants have manure and seaweed from the sea sh.o.r.e free of charge. The seaweed was very valuable in 1866, when the kelp made on the islands realized 2577, being 5 a ton. There is no kelp made now, owing to the fall in prices. For twenty years the value of a tenant's interest in a croggery varied from 30 to 90.

This closed the landlord's evidence, and the lay sub-commissioners in due time inspected the farms. The case came on for judgment, and the court reduced the rent from 3 18_s._ 6_d._ to 2 7_s._ 6_d._, being 39.75 per cent. reduction.

All the other cases were similar to the last.

On Tuesday, July 20, 1886, her Majesty's gunboat was moored at the New Docks, Galway, for the purpose of taking the Land Commission composed of Mr. Crean, Lieut.-Colonel Bayley, Mr. Rice and myself, to Aran. The voyage was one to be remembered. The wind, from the S.S.W., rose to a tempest, not a sail in sight. Nevertheless the vessel held on her course, though the wind was high against her, and she let drop her anchor in due time in the Bay of Kilronan. No mail boat from "Europe"

arrived in the islands during the greater part of that week. To fix a fair rent was the object of fifty-four originating notices which now came on for hearing. Of this number two were dismissed on points of law, and forty-nine had their rents fixed, the sum of the old rents being 384, which was now reduced to the new or judicial rent of 231, being a reduction in favour of the tenants of 153, say forty per cent. This reduction, as a matter of course, was well received by the islanders; but the questions that are irresistibly forced on the mind are, can any reduction of rent improve their condition? And can any tenure of their farms, or any estate therein, however large, raise them from their condition of comparative poverty to that of wealth? And would it be of material benefit to them to sweep from the landlord the last farthing of his rent, and to grant the same to them? And would it not be for their weal rather that they had schools to instruct the young in the natural history of the fish, and in the ways of science connected with the deep sea fisheries, and in navigation and all its kindred branches, such as mathematics, spherical trigonometry, the use of the compa.s.s, magnetic needle, the constellations, and nautical tables, etc., together with all the trades incident to fishing such as carpentering, ship building, nail making, sail, net, rope, and line making?

[Sidenote: BARONESS BURDETT-COUTTS.]

And ought not the young and the old to be familiarized with the name of the Baroness Burdett-Coutts, and with her wonderful works in the cause of the Baltimore Fishery? And would it not be for the weal of the islanders, and of the nation, the Irish nation, that the islanders should be supplied, not for charity, with deep sea fishing appliances, as the Baltimore fishermen have been?

[Sidenote: THE ARAN FISHERIES.]

The ignorance of our fishing population is thus deplored in the report of "the inspectors of the sea and inland fisheries of Ireland," 1887:--

"It is melancholy to find how deficient our coast population is in all these matters, and that the rising generation are left untaught in arts, from the exercise of which, wealth would be brought into our land, and industry, self-reliance, and temperance inculcated, while the seas around our island teem with fish; so much so that often, when a great capture occurs, quant.i.ties of fish are lost from the want of scientific knowledge as to the best means of curing; and, at the same time, Ireland is _importing_ about 10,000 tons of cured fish _annually_, when she might be _exporting_ double, or even treble that quant.i.ty.

"Thousands of pounds are also sent annually from Ireland to England, Scotland, and the Isle of Man, for nets and lines alone, the great bulk, if not all, of which might be kept at home, and our people profitably employed."[18]

The following letter, from Sir Thomas F. Brady, Inspector of Irish Fisheries, Dublin Castle, on the Aran fishery, is worthy of note:--

"11, Percy Place, Dublin, Dec. 5, 1886.

"MY DEAR BURKE,

"I have your note here. There is a large number of open row boats and curraghs on the three islands of Aran, but that is their only mode of fishing; and they can only fish at short distances from the land, and cannot fish except in suitable weather. There is not a single first-cla.s.s fishing vessel attached to the islands. The people are too poor to provide themselves with such, or obtain security for loans for such. There is one drawback to such vessels being kept, the want of proper harbour accommodation. There is a pier at the north island, but vessels cannot approach it unless near high water, and there is no means of improving it by extension. To make a good harbour it would be necessary to build a new pier into deep water; then, if any quant.i.ty of fish is taken, the vessels must lose their time and bring them to Galway, thirty miles. If there were telegraphic communication between the island and mainland, the Galway steamer might be sent out when there was a large quant.i.ty of fish, or if there were a number of first-cla.s.s vessels there, it might pay a steamer to attend them regularly as they do in the North Sea.

"The Manx, Cornish, and French vessels, only go there in the early part of the year when the mackerel sets in. The Frenchmen slightly salt the fish on board, and take them to France and come back again for another cargo.

"Sincerely yours,

"THOMAS F. BRADY."

That a step, however small, in the right direction has been taken, appears from the following letter from Christopher Talbot Redington, Esq., J.P., D.L., of Kilcornan, in the county of Galway:--

"Poor Relief (Ireland) Inquiry Commission,

"Dec. 10, 1886.

"DEAR MR. BURKE,

"I have been engaged all the summer, in conjunction with Colonel Fraser and Mr. Mahony, in expending a grant of 20,000 in the scheduled unions under the provisions of the Poor Relief Ireland Act, 1886. We have carried out several works in North and South Aran. The Board of Works are building a pier in the middle island.

"Yours truly,

"C.T. REDINGTON."

The absence of first-cla.s.s fishing boats accounts for the absence of wealth in the islands. The Aran fisherman sees the French fisherman fishing whilst he becomes a farmer and a labourer at wages not worth working for. The Rev. William Killride, rector of Aran, thus writes:--

"Aran, Dec. 11, 1886.

"DEAR SIR,

"Men's wages vary. There is no constant work whatever. Spring and the seaweed gathering for kelp are the chief harvests for the labourer. A labourer has seldom more than four months' labour in the year; so that it is a necessity on his part to get gardens on hire. Until last year or the year before he got from 1_s._ to 1_s._ 6_d._ in spring, with his diet; at harvest, about 1_s._ with his diet, three meals in the day, bread and tea for breakfast, etc. When there is a hurry in seaweeding time he used to get 2_s._ 6_d._ and diet, but this lasts only a week twice in the year."

[Sidenote: TREES IN ARAN.]

The writer then speaks of several other matters connected with the island and about the possibility of growing timber there. "My little grove was planted by myself. I find the greatest difficulty in preserving it, seven trees being destroyed this year. Then I planted every nook and cranny with evergreens; but they were plucked up three several times. I got sick of this thing. Many places in the island were covered with trees. In fact, fifty years ago or so, I have been informed that a large portion of the island grew trees, especially hazel, from 20 to 26 feet in height.

"What kept the poor rate down both last year and this was the amount of relief given out. Mr. Thompson, the agent, laid out 140 on a road, and 136 on seed potatoes. Sir John Barrington has given me upwards of 100 for this object, and this year he gave me 80 or 90 for seed potatoes and 120 for relief and also money to a.s.sist emigration and to buy turf. The people will suffer terribly this year for want of fuel. The potato crop is all gone. No fish whatever taken. Any further information you may want I will freely give.

"I am, dear Sir,

"Yours, very sincerely,

"WILLIAM KILLRIDE."

[Sidenote: BARONESS BURDETT-COUTTS.]

The poverty of the Aran fishermen was equalled until lately by that of the Baltimore fishermen in the south of Ireland. Their altered state of circ.u.mstances appears by a report of the inspectors of Irish fisheries on the sea fisheries of Ireland, presented to his Excellency the Lord Lieutenant in the autumn of 1886. The Baltimore fishing boats had been mere curraghs worth about 6 each. Owing to the liberality of Baroness Burdett-Coutts, of imperishable fame, a number of deep sea fishing boats were built at a cost of 600 each, which was lent to the Baltimore men on easy rates of repayment. The report states that at Baltimore, in the year 1885, there were 41,610 boxes of fish caught by fishermen previously unemployed, and these boxes of fish realized a sum of 34,585. Mostly every tradesman in the town was employed; the carpenters in making boxes, the smiths in strapping them round with hoop iron.

"Three vessels arrived in Baltimore loaded with ice, and eight hulks were used for storing it, two at a cost of 20 a month, the others were owned by a company of fish buyers, at a cost of 1 5_s._ a week each.

This for ten would amount to 3080, besides a large expenditure on packers." Fancy the like sums scattered in Aran!

[Sidenote: THE ARAN FISHERIES.]

At Baltimore in 1886, sixteen steamers were employed in carrying the fish to England, at an estimated cost of 400 each per month.

Over 100 men were employed in the boats used by the buyers; and at a rate of wages which, for twelve weeks, would amount to about 1500, besides a large expenditure upon packers, etc.

In 1886 three vessels arrived with ice, containing 1423 tons, all of which were imported, and eight hulks were used for storing it, owned by a company of fish buyers.