The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1905-12-30
IN CONNfMARA
The Classic District Retains Its
Gaelic Glamour.
Fishing in Corrachs and Other
Primitive Locomotion,

time about Connemara, but little has
been told of the life the people lead,
of their language, dress, or general
characteristics In the byways these
may be studied to the greatest advant-
age; in South Connemara, where rail-
ways are unknown and little school,
boys fail to recognize their pictures
when snapped" by a camera. A
strange land, and we'll worth explora-
ton, says Edward Kent in the Dublin
Independent.
Fishing in the sea with corrach or
pucan, gathering seaweed to make
kelp, cultivating a barren patch of
stony ground, these are the occupa-
lions of the coast jewellers in Come
mara. Cows are rare, goats are plenti-
full, and numerous black-faced sheep
chase each other across the road and
up the hill Sides where they Craze in
a semi-wild condition. The far-famed
ponies are in much the same condi-
ton. A considerable trade is done in
both sheep and ponies, but the COM
mission agent and jobber leave little
profit to the peasant. 1t is a notorious
fact that, while Connemara folk are
almost universally poor, no man goes
into Connemara to trade who does not
come out with heavier pockets. We
met an Englishman, who. however,
failed through ignorance of the people
and their language. He distributed
thousands of hand-bills along the high
roads unfolding to those who could
read them the virtues of particular
brand Of tea. But he reckoned with
out the fact that the Connemara peas
antry don't read. He has since given
up trading in "Coonewmara."
The donkey is universal in Come
mara. Coming up bohreen may be
occasionally seen an animated heap OF
seaweed from four to six feet high.
Closer inspection reveals a donkey's
head projecting in front Of the heap.
the rest of the animals body being
concealed beneath its shiny, dripping
burden. Close to the donkey's head
walks or trots a shaggy-headed, pet
ticoated boy of ten or twelve, who
guides the beast by hitting him on al
ternate ears with small twig. Now
and again donkey laden with two
panniers or side-baskets hoves IN
view. In one of the panniers is a load
of turf, or mayhap cabbages. In the
other a demure little maiden to bal
ance. And of course the inevitable
petticoated boy. Out on the bog,
where even the donkey cannot find a
footing, men and women, mainly wo-
men, are seen carrying huge baskets
of turf on their backs to the roadside.
When the sun is dancing on the wa
tiers of the Western Sea or on some
pleasant inland lake, when the breeze
is fresh, and the distant mountains
blue the scene in Connemara is one to
bring gladness to the heart To the
east stretches miles of heather-cov-
cred bogland, with here and there a
7owery cannawaum (ceanabham rear
ing aloft its gentle white head. TO the
west a long road leading around dis
tant hills to territory yet unknown to
us. To the south of our path the shin
ing sea. Here and there a column of
dense white smoke denotes where the
kelp is burning on the shore. At night
when the moon is high and the hills
raise their ghostly heads to the meet
ing sky, and the eerie silence is only
broken by the sigh Of the west wind, 1t
is good to be on the plains of Come
mara, to feel the stiffness, and the
loneliness and the hush Of nature over
the fairness of the hogs and the
stretching roads.
Everywhere in this beautiful land
one meets evidences of the direst
poverty The poor cabins of the turf
cutters rarely present an appearance
of comfort. Emigration has decimated
the population. Here son and there
a daughter, departing, has left sorrow
in the humble home. Occasionally one
meets a man whose good English
(when he speaks that language) be-
trays foreign travel. He has been to
America, probably to Boston, and has
returned preferring potatoes and salt
in Ireland to good meat and drink In
the slums in the great American cities
The kelp industry was formerly much
more remunerative than at present
A mill at Galway, now in ruins. once
converted the burnt seaweed into
soda, iodine and potassium. Now the
Scotch have annexed this trade. Up
to-date machinery and better business
methods compelled the Galway Iodine
Mill to close its doors. Might not the
expenditure of little energy and
some capital establish a modest iodine
Mill in the centre of Connemara, where
the kelp-burners could get better
prices for the kelp than they do at
present from agents Of the Glasgow
company, who now take an occasional
boatload from the district?
The fishing industry is at present
receiving some attention from the
Fisheries Board. When in Carna ir
1902 I had the good fortune to meet
....,on ,,,bo l,o5 boau froinod IN Clan