ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS ON ARRANMORE IN THE NlNETEENTH AND TWENTlETH CENTURlES

By CLIFFORD HARGREAVES, B.A.

Donegal Annual 1962, Vol. V, No. 2, p. 98-114. Reproduced by kind permission of The Donegal Historical Society.

Aran is the largest of many islands situated off the drowned west coast of the Rosses, County Donegal. Because of the shelter provided by the other islands the three mile crossing to Leahgarrow quay, Aran, is possible on most days of the year. The island is a small 'mountain' composed of schist and gneiss and some granite in the south-east corner; in parts peat underlain by boulder clay covers the solid rock. This 'mountain' has an extensive top with craggy summits 300 to 700 feet high separated by many lakes. It terminates in steep cliffs on its north, north-east and west sides but has steep to gentle narrow slopes along the south and south-east coasts while two pincer like extensions of the steep to gentle slopes thread their way into the 'mountain' along the sides of the Owenballintra and Leabgarrow streams.

Since 1836, and probably before that, the island has been divided into ten townlands each with its own beach, a portion of sheltered south or south-east coast slope and some the mountain top. Today Leabgarrow and Aphort are the dominant townlands in the sense that the islanders, even though they might live in other townlands, speak of living on the Aphort or Leabgarrow side of Aran. The Leabgarrow side is vaguely defined as that area east of a line drawn north to south from Bellacreesh Bay to those houses in Illion which are clustered west of the church while the word Aphort includes the settled portion to the west of the north to south line. The townland of Leabgarrow owes its commanding position to the fact that it contains the post office, the house of the last landlord (now converted into a hotel) and the quay which provides the main link with the mainland.

Aphort townland owes its dominance to the possession of the islands next most important harbour. Since the above conditions also applied in the nineteenth and early twentieth century their Leadership is probably of long standing. It would be interesting to know whether the air remoteness that now hangs so heavily over the Aphort but not the Leabgarrow area is equally long standing. This quality is remarked on by many people. As one would expect all the cottages are found on the south and south-east slopes where they are protected from the strong winds that blow almost constantly from the Atlantic. Within this area, in the first half of the nineteenth century, there was dispersed settlement in Gortgarra, the northern half of Leabgarrow and along the sides of the Owenballintra and Leabgarrow streams. But this form of settlement was overshadowed by the eight close or loosely knit clusters of houses found all the townlands except Gortgarra and Rannagh and Tories. The latter only contained three buildings (l). For want of a better word these clusters may be defined as villages but their size varied from about eight cottages in Plohogue to seventeen cottages in Aphort. Records left by eye witnesses enable us to picture the houses. Their cottages are stone built with mud floors, no chimneys, rarely any furniture in them, usually hay on the floor for a bed with a rug or old clothes for bed covering." Two other people noted that "most of the cabins we visited were small, smoky, dark and loathsome; destitute of the meanest articles of furniture - the solitary chest being frequently applied to the various uses of table, chair and dresser.''

At the pivot of the houses, then as now, was 'a Roman Catholic chapel'' while close by was "a graveyard surrounded by high water." The latter is simply a bare granite rock upon which relatives of the deceased piled earth. The burial ground now provide more suitable accommodation. Evidently most of the islanders had some land because in 1822 Nimmo reported that there "are 150 families paying rent besides some labourers and cotters under these. The land is divided so low as a cow's foot or the quarter of a cow's grass." Unfortunately all their land 'was let in rundale" (7) which meant that each tenant must have held, in the cultivated area, several scattered plots of land. What is not clear is how much of the mountain top was given or rented to the islanders for sheep grazing or turf cutting. But what is clear is that today the roads of Cloghcor and Ballintra stand three to four feet above field level. Only turf cutting can account far this so it is likely that turf removal was not then allowed on the mountain.

Towards the middle of the century this settlement and land tenure pattern began to break up. Ever since 1838 landlords, mainly for financial reasons, had started to square or consolidate land holdings which in its turn tended towards the breakdown of the 'villages' and their replacement by dispersed settlements (8). When Foster visited Aran in 1846 no change was seen but the agent of the then landlord - the Marquis of Conyngham - made it clear to Foster that "a surveyor was in the island ... for the purpose of getting a proper division of the land" (9). But around 1850 Conyngham sold out to a man named Charley (10) who did a lot of 'squaring'. Evidence for this is supplied by a map and schedule which was drawn up between 1900 and 1902 (11) when, in the latter year, the island was bought by the Congested districts Board for £7,987 (12). The map shows that dispersed settlement had replaced nucleation while a study of the map and schedule reveals considerable progress in the amalgamation of holdings. For example, most of the tenants of Leabgarrow townland rented consolidated blocks of land within the townland but some had another strip of land in Ballintra townland. Such conditions applied in the other townlands. In Short much of the present landscape - dispersed settlement and long narrow fields or square fields - was then in existence.

Between 1902 and 1923 the island was under the care of the Congested Districts Board. It helped to pay the cost of house building, it continued the work of land consolidation and it did much to bring equable distribution of land. In the latter field it was especially successful. Proof is provided by a second map And schedule drawn up between 1902 and 1927 (13). The Board was dissolved in 1923 but work in the above fields has continued. Today only remnants of the original nucleated settlement can be seen in Ilion west of the church and in those parts of Leabrannagh and Plughoge which are close to the school and 'dance hall'. Even this is slowly breaking down as people, surprisingly enough, build new one-storey cottages each with three or four rooms. These houses are made of imported concrete blocks or of sheets of concrete formed by pouring cement into moulds. This last method was learnt by those temporary migrants who worked on dams in Scotland and Wales All the roofs are tiled: thatch not now seen even an the older houses. Money for house building is provided by the Gaeltacht Commission and the County Council. The former will give up to £400 and the latter up to £200 provided a four-roomed cottage is built to their specifications. All the houses have some land and study of the underlying table will show how the policy of equalisation of land holdings has fared. Today there are:-

22 farms of less than 1 acre in size.
197 farms 1 to 5 acres in size.
21 farms 5 to 10 acres in size.
4 farms 10 to 15 acres in size.
2 farms 15 to 20 acres in size.
There are no farms above 20 acres.

Most of the above tenants now obtain their turf from the mountain top. They take it from any part of this area since no attempt has ever been made to "square' or divide up the turf banks. The supply will last many years; the turf is four to five feet thick and thanks to the recent introduction of calor gas and electricity many people have halved their turf consumption. Most households, after the harvest, have a few sacks of potatoes, forty to one hundred sheaves of oats and a small stock of, unfortunately, late cut hay too well dried. These products, along with the summer's grass, help to support the various families and their livestock. Most farms have one or two Ayreshire-Shorthorn cows, a donkey, ten to twelve hens and perhaps a few geese, turkeys and sheep, This picture of subsistence agriculture has existed for at least 160 years. But a number of long term changes can be seen. They reflect, in varying degrees, the continued population decrease, the growing affluence Aran society, the growth of government interest and the improved communications with the out- side world. The livestock has been graded up by careful breeding. In the late nineteenth century Gahan commented upon their inferior nature and thanks to his report the Congested Districts Board sent to the island polled Angus bulls, rams, a jack and settings of Black Minorca eggs. The results must have been beneficial since Gahan noted "from all reports calves obtained are of a very good quality" while "lambs are half as big again as the local lambs." (14) Thanks to government help the policy of upgrading stock, by this means, is once again in existence. Livestock quality has changed and so too has the relative proportion of the potato crop. Judged by the traces of thousands of lazy beds now grassed over the potato must have been grown an a very extensive scale throughout much of the nineteenth and early twentieth century even though all the lazy beds may not have been used at one and the same time.

Now, in 1960, the position is very different. There are only a few potato potatoes surrounded by a sea of meadow and pasture grass. Indeed so small is the potato acreage that five to ten tons of potatoes are now imported each year. Clearly, though the population has decreased, the need for potatoes is still very great. But obviously the ability to pay for them has increased, probably due to enhanced remittances from temporary migrants. The relative degree of dependence upon the harvest has also changed. Today government doles, pensions, increased remittances from abroad, better communications and a more acute social conscience - all help to relieve the position if the harvest is poor. But in the nineteenth and early twentieth century government pensions and doles did not exist, remittances were low, social consciences were less keen and communications with England and much of Ireland was restricted to slow steam boats, though the extension of the railway, in 1903, from Letterkenny to Burtonport (15) helped lessen isolation. In consequence real distress must have prevailed when the harvest failed; the 1848-1847 period is the classic example. Time has also changed the area of cultivated land. At present just over 11/4 square miles is used for meadow, pasture, potatoes, oats and vegetables. But at times, in the nineteenth and early twentieth century, when population pressure was more acute as much as 13/4 square miles was cultivated. At one stage land hunger must have been great because some very steep slopes, especially in the town of Aphort and Leabrannagh, were brought into cultivation. Much of this land cannot be reached by donkeys. The salt-soaked, rather wet, flat peninsula of Rannagh was also used; land of such calibre, now deserted, is the last home of the desperate.

There has also been a regrouping of animal strength. In the past donkeys carried seaweed to the fields, turf from the mountain and food from the boats. Today small packs of fertiliser are used and much of the turf and all the imported food is carried by the island's eight tractors and one lorry. Hence the donkey population is rapidly declining which means that more grass is available for the increasing number of cattle. Unfortunately, owing to a lack of winter feed, most of the cows still calve in summer so there is an acute shortage of winter milk. Finally many sheep fleeces, lambs, sheep and cattle are now sold to local dealers at prices that vary according to age, quality and local state of the market. Most people have a cow, calf or sheep for sale each year but only thirty-five families admit to owning the 300 sheep found on the mountain. In the late nineteenth century conditions were very different. Only the sale of butter and eggs is mentioned; they were exchanged for tea and sugar (16). Amid this slowly changing scene two factors have not altered. Farming equipment now, as in the past, consists of spades (the tractors are only used for hauling), scythes, forks, panniers, wooden sledges and carts, while the size of each farm has never been sufficient to give more than basic subsistence. Many of the islanders have always fished for lobster, herring, salmon, cod and plaice but except for two boom periods between the 1780's to 1793 and from 1891 to 1921 the fishing industry has drifted between near extinction and short lived revivals (17). Indeed throughout much of the nineteenth century the collection of seaweed and carrageen moss was probably more important than fishing. Conditions between and after the booms were never bright. The fishing failed in 1793, but by 1822 there must have been a revival: "there are many yawls and curraghs" (18) and "the people of Aran pursue the fishing with more zeal than any persons on this coast but they have no boats for going outside of the sound" (19). A few years later the outlook darkened. "Scarcely any herrings have been taken. The white fishing unusually productive, though the boats are most insufficient in size" (20). Twenty one years later (1866) the position was worse. "Fishermen remain at home if encouraged ... No curing establishment or ice houses ... Roughness of coast, unsuitable boats, and absence of refuge harbours in case of storm (are the) chief impediments to progress" (21). The 1891 to 1921 boom completely changed the picture but heavy decline came after 1921. Civil unrest in the early 20's and a world-wide depression in the 30's almost at extinguished the fishing, though there were two revivals-one due to heavy herring shoals and high prices in the late 20's and a world-wide depression in the 30's almost extinguished the fishing, though there were two revivals-one due to heavy herring shoals and high prices in the late 20's and another after 1939 due to war followed by post war boom.

At present there are at Aran two small trawlers about fifty feet long, twenty-five boats of varying quality each about forty feet long equipped with oars or petrol paraffin motors and forty-six row boats, some of which have outboard motors. This fleet is manned by eight to ten full time fishermen and by forty to fifty others who fish "when the spirit moves them". Judging from these man power figures the margin between revival and extinction is narrow. The men fish for herring in winter and cod, plaice, lobster and salmon in summer. There are several reasons why such conditions have prevailed for so long. First, the boats have always been small which means that they have been sensitive to weather conditions. Secondly, because of their size, these boats have never been able to carry much food, water or fuel. Hence they have never been able to search far for fish if they have not appeared immediately of Aran. Thirdly, it has always been necessary to sell to local dealers who gave and still give minimum prices. Fourthly, for over sixty years foreign trawlers have been steadily reducing the number of local fish and on occasion they have cut through the islanders' nets, thereby causing heavy financial losses. Fifthly, the fishing industry has long had to compete for labour against the counter attractions of temporary and permanent migration. Sixthly, though there are piers at Rannagh, Chapel Strand, Leabgarrow and Pollawaddy they are useless at low tide and only provide minimum shelter. In winter most of the boats are hauled on to the beaches (strands). Nevertheless there have been two fishing booms and both required and initial injection of money: though financial details of the first are obscure, the second was certainly heavily subsidised. The first boom began in the early 1780's, when large sums were spent 'in making quays, yards and other works connected with fishing, but mainly in building houses of a superior description for those interested in fishing on the islands of Rutland, Inishcoo and Eddernish and on the mainland at Burtonport (22). The latter port has always been Aran's link with the mainland, while the islands mentioned stand between Burtonport and Aran. From the early 1780's to 1793 the herring fishing, in which Aran people participated, yielded large returns. The Congested Districts Board quote a figure of £40,000 for 1783 (23). But in 1793 the fishing failed and the fish centres on Rutland, Inishcoo and Eddernish were gradually abandoned. It is difficult to understand why the fishing suffered such a complete collapse. Today, as one sails to Aran, the remains can be seen; many of the houses and fish stations are falling down and only a few retired people and lobster fishers live there. In 1891, thanks to the establishment of the Congested Districts Board, a second boom was created. Aran profited because the Board erected a fish curing station on Inishcoo and "in order to keep up the market to a remunerative price, notified to the fishermen that herrings would be purchased at the rate of two shillings a hundred" (24). In the following year they began herring and mackerel curing (25). The Board's action had two results. First, as they were prepared to buy at fair prices people were encouraged to fish and secondly, as there was a regular supply of fish: "Messers. Watson of Derry and James Sweeney, J.P., of Dungloe, have both started curing stations for herrings at Burtonport" (26). Their presence must have helped to create competition and so kept prices fairly high.

The Board's sixth report paints an encouraging picture. "It is difficult to estimate the amount of money earned by the fishermen of the Burtonport, Arranmore (that is Aran) and Kingcasslagh districts where about 120 boats with crews of about 600 men were engaged. According to the best estimates which the Board can obtain a sum of about £9,000 was earned" (27). The first dark clouds appeared in 1909. "As long as we were competing with sailing boats from other countries we shared sufficiently, if not equally, in the harvest of the sea..'. What happens since the coming of the power boats to the Donegal coast is that the sailing boats either get no fish in stormy weather or in dead calms or else that, if they do catch fish, they are late at arriving at the market, so they very often get reduced or 'fag end' prices after the urgent requirements of the buyers have been satisfied" (28). Faced with this situation the Board, working on a limited budget, was helpless. Fortunately for Aran the first world war stopped the collapse of the local industry but by 1920 the fast steam trawlers operating from English and Scottish ports so lowered prices that fishing was no longer profitable. Had the Board been given a directive to set up a fishing industry, in Donegal, that could compete with the Scotch and English boats, large trawlers and one modern port would have been needed. Burtonport, which serves Aran, would never have been chosen; the bay is only 6 feet deep at low tide; there is not enough shelter and the amount of low level land at Burtonport is too limited to allow the construction of the necessary fishing facilities. If any port had been chosen it would have been Killybegs. This would not have helped Aran. Besides fishing the islanders, in the nineteenth and early twentieth century, collected seaweed to make kelp. They also gathered - and still do - carrageen moss. Unfortunately one can neither date the beginning of carrageen and kelp collection nor can one really assess the relative importance of this industry to the past and present economy of Aran. But from the reports of eye-witnesses their collection, at least in some years of the nineteenth century, probably brought in more money than the fishing. In 1846 Foster noted that "some kelp burning is going on now and this has helped the people a good deal" (29). The importance of kelp making was also noted, in 1890, by a Times reporter. "They use May weed which grows very deep and is usually washed up by storms. Often the weed is brought in with long poles ... having a hook or scythe blade at the end with which they cut the weed and bring it in to dry. Then they burn it in small rough kilns heaping on the weed till it becomes a molten mass after which they stir...and then let it cool. It is taken to the mainland in boats; present prices being from £3 to £3-10s. a ton" (30). This reporter also said that "collecting of carrageen moss is another great industry in summer...It realises about 4s.6d. a cwt. Most of it goes to Belfast where it is used for stiffening linen but it also makes excellent puddings" (31). Though carrageen was not mentioned by Gahan (32) he emphasised the importance of kelp. He estimated that 200 to 250 tons were being made annually. Today kelp is no longer made. The importation into Western Europe, in the twentieth century, of cheap Chilean nitre killed the industry. But a small quantity of carrageen is still gathered from the sea, dried on the grass, put into sacks and sold at Burtonport.

Migratory labour has long helped to supplement earnings obtained from the farms and the sea. In 1890 a Times reported stated that "The able-bodied men all emigrate to Scotland for the harvest, getting aboard the Glasgow boat off Arranmore island; and a large number of the boys and girls also go to Lagan, a district in the east part of Donegal, as farm servants for the six summer months. Able bodied men get £7 to £8 for half year, in addition to their board and lodging, and boys and girls from £4 to £6. The men who go to Scotland can earn from 20/- to 25/- a week, and bring back from £5 to £7 in a good year, after 6 weeks work. Those who go for the thinning of the turnips and remain till the carrying of the corn bring back £9 to £10..." (33). Shortly after this report Gahan (34) estimated that about 60 per cent of the men and the same proportion of the able bodied girls migrated each year to Scotland. The men remained away for 8 to 10 weeks and brought home £5 to £7, while the women remained away for 10 to 12 weeks and brought home £3. These statements, made at different times, help to verify each other and show that temporary migration not only brought in large sums of money but also involved a substantial proportion of the population. Indeed the numbers involved suggest that its inception predates 1890 by a wide margin. This view is strengthened by the references to emigration in the coast guard returns for the Rutland area (35) prior to 1890. Unfortunately they simply use the word emigration which may or may not have embraced both temporary and permanent migrants. Temporary migration still continues. In 1960 over 300 people were away in Scotland, Wales and England. Most of them send money home, most of them are unskilled and the majority return each Christmas or at Easter when they can help with the spring sowing. The girls go to Edinburgh or Glasgow where employment is found in hotels or rubber, biscuit and clothing factories, while the men work as labourers on hydroelectric power schemes, in tunnels or on building sites. Many of the men earn high wages -over £20 a week- but the work is often dangerous; four men have been killed in the last two years. Though the majority are unskilled, a few are skilled, since the 'bright child' or one whose parents are able and willing to pay for education-and some are-goes to the mainland at the age of fourteen for a further four or five year period of secondary education. Girls mainly go to Falcarragh and the boys go the Galway but some institutions opens the door to technical, clerical or professional careers. Unfortunately most of these people soon pass from ranks of the temporary to the permanent migrants. The strength and long life of this social system must have helped to make life more tolerable. This is probably why the population decreased (see the population table) except during the 1841 to 1851 and 1946 to 1961 periods are so low. Indeed they are lower than in most other areas in the west of Ireland, probably because temporary migration acted as a brake on permanent migration at least until the 1939-45 war.

POPULATION TABLE (36)

Year	Population	Increase or Decrease	Population of Aran & Inishkeeragh
1841	1431		1483
1851	1166	-265	1232
1861	1223	+57	1283
1871	1164	-59	1229
1881	1163	-1	1233
1891	1103	-60	1163
1901	1308	+205	1396
1911	1533	+225	1650
1926	1461	-72
1936	1480	+19
1946	1408	-72
1951	1304	-104
1956	1131	-173
1961	842	-289	Note: After 1911 the population of Aran & Inishkeeragh is given as 1, not 2 separate figures.

Note-Iniskeeragh is a small island close to Aran. Between 1956 and 1961 all its inhabitants were moved to the mainland. Hence one reason for the sharp drop in numbers between 1956 and 1961.

The population table also reveals three other points. First, population decline was stopped between 1851 to 1861, from 1891 to 1911 and between the years 1926 to 1936. Secondly, there have been two periods of major population decrease, 1841 to 1851 and from 1946 onwards. Thirdly, since 1841 the population has dropped by nearly one half. No explanation can be offered for the 1851 to 1861 increase, but in the case of the other two the increases are possibly more apparent than real since there is plenty of indirect evidence to suggest that the temporary migrants stayed at home. If that is so their presence would disguise any real drop in population and so create a false impression. Certainly there was plenty to keep migrants at home after about 1894 when the efforts of the Congested Districts Board started to bear fruit, at least until 1911, when the momentum created by the Board began to slacken. The Board brought hope and even more important; money. It bought the island, it tried to give people more equal shares of land, it provided a nurse, (37) it established a domestic training class, (38) it gave up to the year 1915, some £4,831-17s.-6d.39 for the building and repair of houses piers and fences; it provided quality livestock and it helped the fishing industry. Hence there was a powerful incentive to stay on Aran. The late 1920's and early 30's also kept people at home but for a very different reason. The world-wide depression that then prevailed spelt little at home but even less abroad. In some cases memories of this period plus, in others, and awareness of the relative insecurity of the unskilled, prevents many islanders who intend to settle 'across the water' from actually selling their farms. They regard them as insurance policies which might have to be called upon should they become the victims of a major trade recession.

The 1841 to 1851 and the 1946 to 1961 periods contrast strongly with the above. In both large population decreases were recorded. The 1841-1851 decrease was the result of an abnormal death rate due to and arising from hunger between 1846 to 1847 (The Great Famine) and also a consequence of many people leaving the island, around 1850, for America. Bennett, Griffith and Brady left a detailed picture of the famine period. Bennett stated that he feared to record "the number of families in which sea weed and limpets appeared to be the only substitutes for food", (40) while Griffith and Brady reported that "the island itself exhibits one uniform scene of unmitigated desolation, not a single stack of corn having been observed by us far or near, throughout those parts of it which we visited; in some places the land had been dug over three times in the hope of obtaining an occasional potato" (41). Clearly many must have died. Soup kitchens were eventually set up but there is evidence to suggest that only friends of the management benefited (42). Three years later what was probably the first large-scale migration to America took place. A Mr. J. S. Charley had just bought the island and he "chartered a vessel and sent a number of people to America where they made a settlement in Beaver Island, Lake Michigan" (43). Obviously after the famine many people must have welcomed the chance to go to America. But it is difficult to understand Charley's motives. It may have been a simple act of Christian charity or a desire to create a good impression among his new tenants or simply a useful way of removing known and potential troublemakers. Charley's motives will always be shrouded in mystery but what is certain is that his action created an Aran community in America which for many years enticed the islanders. In 1883 these migrants "offered to give 40 acres apiece of land to the heads of certain selected families who might wish to emigrate from Arranmore and on the application of the Rev. Father Nugent several families were assisted to go by Mr. Tuke's committee" (44). More followed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, but since 1926 the American emigration is small. Only two or three people go each year to America and remittances from that country are no longer important. Since 1946 there has been a second population crisis of which the momentum still seems to be growing. There is a direct correlation between this crisis and Britain's post war industrial boom with its associated national health and pension schemes. This magnet has proved powerful. People pour out of Aran and the significant point is that whereas it used to be the husband or the younger members of the family who went away it is now the whole family. About 33 of the 275 cottages are now closed. The marriage and school attendance figures shown below indicate the long term gravity of the position. These figures are readily appreciated when one visits the houses. At a conservative estimate at least one half of the cottages house bachelors, spinsters or old married couples. Clearly if this continues Aran will simply become a home for the aged and infirm.

Year	Marriages (45)
1910-20	60 marriages
1920-30	60 marriages
1930-40	36 marriages
1940-50	36 marriages
1950-60	15 marriages

School attendance figures (46)
Leabgarrow School: In 1956 150 children were on the register with four teachers. In 1960 98 children were on the register with 3 teachers.
Aphort School: In 1950 130 children were on the register with 3 teachers. In 1960 60 children were on the register with 2 teachers.

Though these decreases and increases are interesting, the most important point is that the population has been nearly halved in 120 years. Several reasons are responsible. The farms have always been too small to yield more that a survival diet. The fishing has seldom been a success. The opportunities for local employment outside farming and fishing have been nil, though some now find work on the roads or by taking in those people who attend the Gaelic course held on the island in summer. Social life was probably fairly satisfying in the nineteenth and early twentieth century, when weddings, wakes, dancing and drinking were the main diversions. But today, despite the introduction of a 'cinema' and television, young people think that Scotland, Wales and England have more to offer. Allied to all these the Aran people have known, at least since 1850, that America and Britain could offer more regular and remunerative employment.

NOTES

1. 6 inch to 1 mile map. Surveyed 1835. Engraved 1836.
2. Foster, T. C., Letters on the condition of the people of Ireland, London, 2nd edit., 1846 p.111 3. Trans. Central Relief Comm. of the Soc. of Friends during the famine in Ireland in 1846-7, Dublin, 1852, p.189.
4. Name book: Parish of Templecroan. Book I, p.10.
5. Ibid, p.9 (The name books are at the Ordnance Survey. Phoenix Park, Dublin. Book 1 was issued to Lieutenant Lloyd on the 31st January, 1829).
6. Plt. Papers, vol. xxii, 1837, App. xvii, p.72.
7. Foster, T.C., Letters on the condition of the people of Ireland, London, 2nd edit., 1846, p.109.
8. For general details see Marcourt, D., 'The rundale system in Donegal: its distribution and decline'. The Donegal Annual incorporating the Journal of the Donegal Hist. Soc., vol 3, no. 1, 1955, pp. 47-60 and Macloinsigh, P., 'Rural villages and the rundale system'. Journal of the Donegal Hist. Soc., vol. 1, no. 2, 1948.
9. Foster, T.C., Letters on the condition of the people of Ireland, London, 2nd edit., 1846, p.659.
10. The Congested District of Ireland, II, The Rosses, The Times, 13th October, 1890, p.13. See also Plt/Paper, vol.Iv, 1847-48, pp.61, 62 and 63.
11. The originals are in the LandCommission Office, Merrion Sq., Dublin. They are not dated but officials at the office consider that they were drawn up between 1900 and 1902.
12. Micks, W.L., An account of the constitution, administration and dissolution of the Congested Districts Board for Ireland from 1891 to 1923, Dublin, 1925, Appendix I, p.220.
13. The originals are in the Land Commission. Merrion Square, Dublin. They are not dated but officials think they were drawn up between 1902 and 1927.
14. The Base Line Reports of the Congested Districts Board, Ireland: Confidential [Inspector's Local Reports] Dublin. 1892-3.
15. Casserley, H.C., 'Closure of the Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway'. Railway Magazine, October, 1953, p.701.
16. The Base Line Reports of the Congested Districts Board, Ireland: Confidential [Inspector's Local Reports] Dublin, 1892-3.
17. Plt/Papers, 1822-1923. Reports of the Cong. Dist. Board, 1892-1919. Reports on the Sea and Inland Fisheries, Dublin, Stat. Office, 1923-1960. Reports of An Bord Iascaigh Mhara from1957-.
18. Plt/Paper, vol.xxii, 1837, App.xvii, p.72.
19. Ibid p.72.
20. Third annual report of the Comm. of Public Works in The Fisheries of Ireland, 1846, App. 2, p.15.
21. Report of the Deep Sea and Coast Fish Comm., Ireland, for 1866, App.2, pp.24-25.
22. 4th report of the Comm. of Irish Fisheries, 1822.
23. 5th report of the Cong. Dist. Board (C.D.B.) for Ireland, Dublin, 1896, p.18.
24. 1st report C.D.B., Dublin, 1893, p.19.
25. 2nd report C.D.B., Dublin, 1893, p.22.
26. 3rd report C.D.B., Dublin, 1894, p.17.
27. 5th report C.D.B., Dublin, 1896, p.19.
28. 19th report C.D.B., Dublin, 1911, p.30.
29. Foster, T.C., Letters on the conditions of the people of Ireland, London, 2nd edit., 1846, p.111.
30. The Congested Districts of Ireland, II, The Rosses, The Times 13th October, 1890, p.13.
31. Ibid, p.13.
32. The Base Line Reports of the Congested Districts Board, Ireland: Confidential [Inspector's Local Reports] Dublin, 1892-3.
33. The Congested Districts of Ireland, II, The Rosses, The Times, 13th October, 1890, p.13.
34. The Base Line Reports of the Congested Districts Board, Ireland: Confidential [Inspector's Local Reports] Dublin, 1892-3.
35. Plt/Papers relating to Irish Fisheries.
36. The figures from 1841 to 1911 come from the British census reports while those from 1926 to 1961 are from the Irish Free State census returns.
37. 14th report C.D.B., Dublin, 1905, p.41.
17th report C.D.B., Dublin, 1908, p.34.
38. 10th report C.D.B., Dublin, p.43.
39. 23rd report C.D.B., Dublin, 1915, App.xiii, p.78.
40. Trans. of the Central Relief Comm. of the Soc. of Friends during the famine in Ireland in 1846 and 1847, Dublin, 1852, p.167.
41. Ibid. p.189.
42. Ibid. p.166.
43. The Congested Districts of Ireland, II, The Rosses, The Times, 13th October, 1890, p.13.
44. Ibid, p.13.
45. Supplied by Fr. D. McDyer, C.C., Aran Island.
46. Supplied by Mr. M. Boyle, N.T., Aran Island.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author wishes to thank Mr. T. W. Freeman, M.A., of the department of Geography, University of Manchester for his helpful suggestions and encouragement: and also Mr. P. Bonner, N.T., Mr. M. Boyle, N.T., Father D. McDyer. C.C., all of Aran island, and Mr. N. Anderton, B.A., and Father Terence O'Donnell, O.F.M., for their very willing assistance.