IRISH TERRITORY WHICH HAS IRISH FREE GOVERNMENT.

New Zealand Tablet, 13 November 1919, Page 37

IRISH TERRITORY WHICH HAS IRISH FREE GOVERNMENT.

The Basket Islands, which lie off the coast of Kerry, are the most advanced point of Europe facing the American Continent. The main island, measuring about three miles long by one mile across, is the only one which is inhabited. It is occupied by a hardy group of fishermen, numbering about 30 families. The island is governed by an "Ard Righ," who is elected by the inhabitants, and who is responsible for the preservation of law and order on the island. The islanders do not pay rent, rates, or taxes, and they recognise no other . authority than that of their king or chief. It is extremely difficult to obtain access to the island; there is only one possible landing place, and it is impossible to find this without an island guide. The natives are very suspicious of strangers, and nobody is allowed to land without his bona fides having first been established. Some time ago a gunboat was sent to the island to collect taxes, but the mission was 7 unsuc-. cessful, as a landing could not be effected. Visitors are very rare one of the most "recent was Rev. Father Fitzgerald, of Glasgow, who, as a priest, received a very hearty "cea'd mille failthe." There is no resident priest on the island, but it is visited twice yearly by a priest from the mainland. The language spoken is Irish, and this _is the medium of instruction in the local school. The inhabitants live mainly by fishing for shell-fish, which find a ready sale on the neighboring \ mainland. . ; The island is probably the only strip of Irish territory which is under independent; Irish government. - , y,. : \.