Galway’s sprawling hills are home to innumerable stories from the past: centuries of people living in tough conditions where plants refused to grow on acidic soil, and strong winds and rain would chill you to the bone. Despite this unfavourable climate, a rich history can be found throughout the county, from ancient Celtic ringforts to scattered Famine villages.
Many of the towns that make up Galway have unique histories of their own, reflecting the way of life of their inhabitants, more often than not, one of poverty. This was no different for the village of Bearna, which I call home.
What is now a scenic seaside area that attracts countless tourists each year was once a small cluster of houses called An Creibh, or Freeport, battered and weathered by the cold sea winds.
Originally constructed in 1799 by a landlord called Lynch, Bearna was little more than a pier and a row of cottages rented by fishermen for ten shillings and six pence a year.
Due to the soil’s lack of nutrition in the area and their proximity to the sea, all income garnered by the inhabitants was made through fishing or herring, to be precise.
In 1837, it was recorded that this industry was supporting an estimated 200 people, in comparison to the advanced methods of fishing used today. Long trawlers with nets that are adapted for each season in order to maximise the amount of fish caught per day, the fishermen of Bearna were simple.
One net type was used year-round, constructed with rope that prioritised catching large fish over large shoals. Trawling, despite becoming an increasingly popular method of fishing back in the 19th century, was frowned upon in the area because it was feared it would drive the fish, their only source of income, out of the bay. Therefore, it was considered a safer and more cautious approach to use nets, despite the fact that they were considerably less effective.
Even though this small corner of the industry would occasionally get overshadowed by imported Scottish, it was overall quite successful. Shoals of two miles across were not uncommon in the area, and 5,000 fish caught in a day would be considered ‘middling’, and there are records of crews catching upwards of 20,000. Sometimes, a boat would get overzealous and become overladen, causing it to topple into the ocean and drown the sailors on board.
Overall, the small fishing town of Freeport was prosperous in its own way, allowing the fishermen to provide for themselves and their families; however, over a few decades, it seemed the village had all but disappeared.
The reason for this is still a debated topic today, with some believing that a change in herring migration patterns caused a decline in income, while others speculate that the Great Famine of the 1840s spread to the area, despite the residents depending primarily on the sea rather than the land.
Whatever the reason, the history of Freeport, and the Bearna area by proxy, is a window into the past hardships faced by Irish people during these years of colonialisation.
