“The Islands of Ireland” And Their Hardy Inhabitants

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19313, 1 May 1937, Page 9

“The Islands of Ireland” And Their Hardy Inhabitants

“A .STORY is told on tlio mainland flint a doctor refused to go to the island unless he was paid a i'eo of three guineas cash in advance. The islanders were angry, but as the case was very serious they managed to eollect. the money and the doctor went, with them. But when the time came for his departure nobody would bring him back for less than five pounds, which he eventually had to pay. Ho arrived home a wiser, and let us hope, a more humane man.’’ .Mr. Thomas 11. .Mason.

The average Briton iv ignorant of the fact that around the coasts of Ireland are many islands, and the latest Bntsford book, “The Islands of Ireland,” by Mr. Thomas Mason, is a praiseworlliy effort not only to dispel this ignorance but a worthy record in every respect. In his early survey, Mr. Mason states:— Viking Invaders.

“The names of the islands on the east coast of Ireland, and indeed of many places on the mainland, tire of Scandinavian origin, and are monuments in the present day to t>he great part that the Viking invaders played in the history of Ireland in preNorman times—Wexford, Arklow, Wicklow, Dal key,, Howth, Ireland’s Kyc, Lamhay, Catlingford, Strangford, are all Scandinavian place-names. Even in the. north of County Dublin there is a district called Fingal (Fair Foreigner, i.e., Norseman) and a tillage called Baldoyle—Ballydlnigal (the Town of the Black Foreigner, i.e., the Dane).

“The. Fingal men are still great sailors and will be found on ships in all parts of the world. The Viking raids were ( first made on the islands; I.ambav Island, County Dublin, was first visited 1 ' in A.D. 7H5, and nearly every .island on., the coast of Ireland was raided in the following two centuries.

“The terror inspired by these pirates can still be traced in the language of the ordinary people —the expression fan quid Dane’ describes a terribly unpleasant person. The ruinUtion of, an ancient building is likewisp, always credited either to ‘the Danes’ or Cromwell, even though (lie structure may not have been in exist enee itt the time, of the Vikings, or T|iay have been in ruins before Cromwell’s time.” '

Islanders’ Canvas Boats. t , One of Mr. Mason ’s most entertaining chapters deals with the canvas boats of the islanders, who, the author asserts, “can manipulate these boats with astonishing rapidity. On one occasion I ,watched the local cobbler, by name Barney Beg—i.e., Little Barney—round up his Hock of ducks which had gone rather far out to sea and drive them back to land m much the same manner ns a Collie dog would gather together the sheep on a Mountain. . . .

“It is as easy to repair a tear in a canvas curraeh as it is to repair a puncture in a bicycle tire: a piece of canvas, a needlo and thread, a blunt knife and a hot turf are all the tools that' ace (teccssary. The hot turf is required for melting and the knife for Spreading the tar over the new patch. “These canvas boats are not. dying out. Various efforts have been made from time to time by a beneficent Government to improve the lot of the fishermen by giving them large wooden boats, but the fishermen discarded them eventually and returned to. the Use of the canvas boat. The reason being, as I was told everywhere on the coast, that the latter were safer in ,n rough sea.

Better Than Wooden Boats. “They arc light to handle both on sea and land, and much easier and cheaper to repair in districts where there are no trees and all timber must bn purchased and transported from the nearest town on the mainland. for although quantities ol timber arc washed up on the islands, it is generally in the form ot heavy balks unsuitable for bout-building. Ihe wooden |ioats disappeared Irani the Blasket Island about forty years ago and I do not think they will ever reappear. “] have made many .journeys in these canvas boats. In calm weather their speed is incredible, and in rough sens I have never felt tin slightest anxiety; the seamanship of the boatmen is superb, and never, even in the worst weather, have I been really wet. There is no dangei with the largo Atlantic rollers unless thev are breaking, but seas that conic at right angles to the direction of the boat "are more troublesome. As a large wave approaches from this direction the prow of the boat is turned to face it with a rapidity which would be quite impossible m a heavy wooden boat, and when the wave has passed the boat resumes its normal course. “As a passenger I have been fascinated in watching the manoeuvres ot the boatmen. 1 felt as detached as if I were a spectator at a football match, and somehow I had no sensation of fear, although only ft thin piece of canvas was between myself and the Atlantic Ocean.”