Site locations. Data from the basemap gallery accessed on the Heritage Maps Viewer at www.heritagemaps.ie 23-6-2023
Anne Buckley
Introduction
Our journey begins on the coastline where the rich food resource of seaweeds, fish and shellfish was available to our earliest ancestors. Through time the seashore was used to provide fertilizer, ponds for growing lobsters, oyster beds, structures to catch fish, mills for grinding corn and piers to export produce. Inland, the rocky herb-rich landscape of the Burren and its unique farming traditions, provided a variety of food.
North-West Coast, Shell Middens
Mesolithic 9,000 to 6000ya
Excavation of Shell Midden at Fanore. Burrenbeotrust
Hunter-Gatherers used the seashore as their main source of food, supplemented by hunting and foraged nuts and berries. They lived mainly on the coast and near rivers and streams.
Shell Middens are the remains of cooking areas used from the Mesolithic to Medieval period. Excavations of a shell midden at Fanore in 2008-2013 produced evidence of Periwinkle, limpet, dog-welk, fishbones and crab claw. Stone-age axes, elongated and hammer stones, pieces of pottery and burnt hazel nuts were discovered.
The Fergus Estuary, Fish-weirs and Fish-traps
Late Bronze Age 4,000-2000ya/ Medieval 400AD-early 16th century
River Fergus Fish Traps. Photo courtesy of Dr. Aidan O’Sullivan, UCD School of Archaeology
The River Fergus Estuary is a unique maritime historic landscape, with evidence of human settlement and activity from 4,000 years ago to modern times.
Known to fishermen as old eel-traps, medieval fish weirs are visible at low tide. Intertidal archaeological surveys first identified Bronze age wooden structures at Island McGrath and early Christian fish weirs at Boarland Rock. In 2010 a team from UCD School of Archaeology, led by Dr Aidan O’Sullivan, discovered fish weirs located over a shoreline stretch of 600m. Radiocarbon dated to the mid13th to early 15th century AD, it is believed they were constructed by the Augustinian community on Cannon Island.
The fish-traps are V shaped post and wattle fences tied together with withies (hazel rope). At a narrow gap, where the two walls meet, a basket was placed to catch fish. Several species were harvested including salmon, eels and flounder.
North Clare Coast, Herring Fisheries, Oyster beds and Lobster Ponds
Late Medieval 12th-16th Century/ Modern era 19th and 20th Century
Herring Fisheries
The Old Pier Ballyvaughan
Landing site near Red Bank Oyster Bed, Corranroo Bay
Herrings were an important part of the Irish diet. They could be dried and salted and used throughout the year, especially during Lent. Ballyvaughan had a thriving herring fishery. Quays, built by the Fishery Board in1829, were vital to its success. Herring fisheries were also established in Gleninagh and Bellharbour.
Oyster Beds
Aughinish Bay, is home to the famous Redbank Oyster bed. At its peak, it employed up 150 people, mostly women and girls.
Oysters were once everyday food for local people, preserved, or cooked and used to bulk out stews and soups, or baked into loaves of bread. Red Bank Oysters were well known for their high quality and taste. To capitalize on their reputation the owner Mr Burton Bindon named his Dublin restaurant ‘Red Bank’. Oysters were sold and exported until the mid1900’s when the bed went into decline due to over harvesting and disease.
Lobster Ponds
Lobster Pond at Finnavarra
A Lobster business was established in Finnavarra in the late 1800’s by Scovell and Warner who were active in the business in England. A pond was leased from the Skerrett’s, local landlords. The lobsters were transported by horse and jarvey to Oranmore train station and shipped to London and Europe. It was a profitable business, still running up to the 1950s. The work was hard and unpleasant, unlike the colourful picture painted by Thomas Cooke in the Galway Vindicator in 1834;
‘These young women form a picturesque corps of mermaids, when seen paddling in the shallow water, with red petticoats tucked up as far as their knees, and sometimes even higher. The red petticoats, the wild mirth and native frolic, which distinguish these innocent and cheerful lassies, would lead a stranger to suppose them influenced by more levity than falls to the lot of the generality of their country-women’
Kilkee Periwinkle Pickers. Period: Modern Era, Late 19th to present day
Katie Kelly and Friends
Periwinkles and dillisk have been sold in Kilkee and Lahinch since the 1800s. The ‘winkles’ are picked fresh every day in Carrigholt and Querrin, then boiled in sea water with seaweed added for flavour. The Kelly and Taylor families have been involved with the winkles for generations, Today Frank Kelly, with his partner Joan, operate Kelly’s Food Stall in Kilkee. The trade was started by Frank’s grandmother, in 1912. Frank recalls summers being hectic, especially on days like Strand Race days, which dates back to 1854.
The descendants of families, from Limerick and Cork who came on summer holidays during Frank’s Grandmother’s time still return, preserving one of our great Clare food traditions.
The Burren Farming and Food
Neolithic 6,000-4,000ya to Modern Era
The Neolithic period saw the beginning of pastoral farming in Clare.
A mix of cattle, sheep, goats and pigs was introduced. By the early Bronze Age, the South Burren was well populated. Remains of field systems and huts are still visible on the landscape today.
At an excavation of a fulachta fiadh in Carran, bones of sheep, cattle, deer, and horse were uncovered. The diet of these early settlers, included meats, grouse, game, oats, rye and honey. Supplemented by foraged foods; wild garlic, wood sorrel, watercress and hazelnuts.
Winterage
Cattle drive to Winterage in the Burren. Photo courtesy of Burrenbeotrust
Transhumance is the seasonal movement of people with their life stock between summer and winter pastures. Animals move to upland pastures for summer grazing. Farmers in the Burren practice a system of ‘reverse’ transhumance, called ‘Winterage’. Animals are moved to the uplands in winter for grazing. The limestone retains heat and the vegetation is rich in calcium promoting strong bone growth. The season is extended by the early spring growth of flowering grasses. This ancient practice is rare elsewhere and continues in the Burren today.
Goats
Goats in the Burren. Photo courtesy of Gareth McCormack
Excavations at Poulnabrone Portal tomb uncovered goat bones. Goats provided milk and meat through the ages. From the introduction of Christianity to the Modern Era, goats have been part of the celebration of feast days. Young Goats (kids) were reared in special enclosures known as crós, still visible dotted around the landscape. Kids, fed only by the mother’s milk, to ensure the tenderness of the meat, was the traditional meat eaten on St Patricks Day and Easter.
Magic Milk
Since the Medieval period dairy has been central to our food story. Cows were prized for milk production and rarely killed. Ring forts and cahers were built for protection. Referred to as ‘banbhia’ or white food, milk was used in a variety of ways. Butter was salted or used fresh and often flavoured with garlic and onion. Milk was converted into curds and whey. Curds were made into soft or hard cheeses. Whey and buttermilk were popular drinks.
Lowlands
From the introduction of Christianity, methods of farming greatly improved. Monastic sites were strategically placed. The fertile lowlands were farmed intensely. Monks brought improved farming practices, more variety of produce, with better crop husbandry and milk processing techniques.
Oats
Quern stones were used for grinding oats in the domestic production of meal and flour. Kilns, for drying corn, were common in the landscape and were essential because of the damp climate. Water powered milling evolved from the quern stone as cereal production, mostly oat and barley became commercial.
Oats was a versatile food. It made porridge. Pottage was a stew made with meat, vegetables and grains, or with sea kale in coastal areas. Sowans was made by oat husks fermented in water, husks were discarded and fed to fowl. A thicker mixture which settled at the bottom was made into a cake. The liquid on top was used as an oat milk drink.
From the Medieval period vegetables were widely grown including cabbage and kale, carrots, onions and peas and beans as now most holdings had small kitchen gardens.
By the early 19th century potatoes were main crop grown on smaller holdings.
Despite the Great Famine 1845-52, large quantities of food were exported including livestock, fish, rabbits, peas and beans. Corn markets in Ennis and Kilrush sold grain for export. Butter markets sold butter in firkins, as far away as Limerick. Even the goats of the Burren were exported to support the spa industry in Britain where ‘drinking of goat’s whey was as popular as taking the waters’
References
Our Ancient Landscapes: Hunter-Gatherers in Ireland, The Heritage Council. online, accessed Apr.27th 2023)
Archaeology Ireland vol. 31. No.4 (winter 2017) pp 24-29)
www.burrenbeo.com Archaeology-Burren Trust. Accessed April 2023
County Clare: A history and topography 1837 Samuel Lewis
O’Sullivan, Aidan, Dr, et al The Fergus Estuary and Islands: Discovering a Maritime Historic landscape in Co Clare. UCD School of Archaeology with the Discovery Programme, Nov.2010. Accessed on Heritage Outlook, The Magazine of the Heritage Council, ISSN-1393-9777 Summer 2010
Hoctor, Zena, Reading your Local Landscape: Exploring our Archaeological Heritage with Zena Proctor, Module 3 Power point presentation, Slide Shellfish
www.kilkee.clareheritage.org accessed 19/05/2023)
Farming and the Burren, Brendan Dunford. Published by Teagasc, pdf online accessed 11/05/2023)
www.libraryireland.com Milk and its products. From A Smaller Social History of Ancient Ireland1906. Accessed 11/05/2023)
The Feral Goats of the Burren, Co Clare Republic of Ireland, An Historical Analysis, with particular reference to the origin, type and History of the Old Irish Goat, Raymer Werner May 2004. Accessed online on 23/05/2023
Mac Con Iomaire, M. (2018) Recognizing food as part of Ireland’s intangible culture. Folk Life: Journal of Ethnological Studies, 56(2) doi:10. 1080/04308778.2018.1502402 on line www.arrow.tudublin.ie accessed on June 8th 2023
Photographs and Maps
Shell Middens Fanore, with kind permission from Burrenbeo Trust
River Fergus Fish Traps, with kind permission from Dr. Aidan O’Sullivan, UCD School of Archaeology
The Old Pier Ballyvaughan, copyright P.L. Chadwick, Geograph.ie
Kilkee Periwinkle Pickers, Mrs Katie Kelly with customers and Frank Kelly with partner Joan, with kind permission from Frank Kelly
Winterage in the Burren with kind permission from Burrenbeo Trust
View of small landing place near Red Bank oyster bed, Clare Costal Architectural Heritage Survey 2007-2008
Herd of feral Goats, Turlough Hill, The Burren, Co Clare, by Gareth McCormack, (with permission to use) www.garethmccormack.com
Heritage Map of Clare by Zena Hoctor
Acknowledgements
Zena Hoctor, Reading Your Local Landscape, Oonagh O’Dwyer, Wild Kitchen www.wildkitchen.ie Sinead Keane, Burren Botanist, www.burrenbotanist.ie, Frank Kelly Kilkee
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