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A. D. 1618. "Indenture of June 20th, between Henry Lynch, son and heir of Roebuck Lynch, of Galway, deceased, of the one part, and William Anderson, of Aran, in said county, of the other, whereby he, the said Henry Lynch, for and in consideration of a sum of £50 of English currency to him paid, did thereby demise and assign all that and those, a moiety of the said three islands to him, the said William Anderson, his executors, administrators, and assigns, for a long term of years, excepting thereout" what must have then been in the islands, "great trees, mines, and minerals, and hawks, at an annual rent of £3 Irish, and a proportion of port corn, as therein is set forth."

A. D. 1641. The clan Tiege O'Briens still claimed the islands as their legitimate inheritance, and, taking advantage of the troubles of this troubled year, prepared to attack them with a considerable force, and with the aid of a gentleman of extensive property and influence in the county of Clare, Boetius Clancy the younger. This project, however, was frustrated by the opposition of the Marquis of Clanricarde, then governor of the county of Galway.¹⁴

ARCHBISHOP O'QUEELY.

A. D. 1645. The death of Malachy O'Queely, Catholic Archbishop of Tuam, occurred in this year. To him John Colgan was indebted for a description of the three islands of Aran and their churches.

A. D. 1651. When the royal authority was fast declining, the Marquis of Clanricarde resolved to fortify these islands, wherein he placed 200 musketeers with officers and a gunner, under the command of Sir Robert Lynch, owner of the islands. The fort of Ardkyn, in the large island, was soon after repaired and furnished with cannon, and by this means held out against the Parliamentary forces near a year after the surrender of Galway. In December, 1650, the Irish, routed in every other quarter, landed here 700 men. On the 9th of the following January, 1300 foot, with a battering piece, were shipped from the Bay of Galway to attack them, and 600 men were marched to Iar Connaught, to be thence sent, if necessary, to the assistance of the assailants.

SURRENDER OF ARAN.

On the 15th the islands surrendered on the following terms: —

"Articles concluded between Major James Harrisson and Captain William Draper, on behalf of the Commissary-General Reynolds, Commander-in-Chief of the Parliamentary forces in the isles of Aran, and Captain John Blackwall and Captain Brien Kelly, commissioners appointed by Colonel Oliver Synnot, commander of the Fort of Ardkyn, for the surrender of the said Fort.

"(1) It is concluded and agreed that all the officers and soldiers both belonging to sea and land shall have quarters, as also all others the clergyman and other persons within the Fort. (2) That they shall have six weeks for their transportation into Spain or any other place in amity with the State of England, and that hostages shall be given by Colonel Synnot for the punctual performance of these Articles. (3) That Colonel Synnot shall deliver up, with all necessaries of war, by three o'clock this 15th of January, 1652, before which time all officers and soldiers belonging to the said Fort shall march with drums beating to the Church near Ardkyn and there lay down their arms. (4) That Colonel Synnot and the captains, eight in number, shall have liberty to carry their swords, the other officers and soldiers to lay down their arms; that Commissary Reynolds shall nominate four officers of the Fort hostages. (5) That Colonel Synnot, with the rest of the officers and all other persons in the Fort shall, upon delivering their arms and delivering their hostages, be protected from the violence of the soldiery, and with the first conveniency be sent to the county Galway, there to remain for six weeks in quarters, in which time they are to be transported as aforesaid, provided that no person whatsoever belonging to the Fort of Ardkyn found guilty of murder be included in these articles, or have any benefit thereby."

ERASMUS SMITH.

The Parliamentary forces, on taking possession of the fortifications, found several large pieces of cannon, with a considerable quantity of arms and ammunition; they seized also a French shallop with twenty-eight oars and several large boats. The Fort was soon after repaired and strongly reinforced. The late proprietor of the islands, Sir Robert Lynch, was declared a forfeiting traitor, and his right made over to Erasmus Smith, Esq., a London adventurer whose interest was afterwards purchased by Richard Butler, created Earl of Aran in 1662.

A. D. 1653. The castle of Ardkyn was by order of the Lord Protector pulled down, and a strong fort erected in its place. Thenceforth Aran became the place of transportation for the Catholic clergy, whilst on the mainland the most violent acts of oppression and injustice openly took place. The King's arms and every other emblem of royalty were torn down, and fifty priests were shipped for Aran¹⁵ until they could be transported to the West Indies, they being allowed sixpence a day each for their support.

QUIT RENT.

A. D. 1670. On the 9th of September, Charles II., by patent under the Act of Settlement, granted to Richard, Earl of Aran, the great island, containing 2376 acres statute measure, all situate in the half barony of Aran, county of Galway, at the annual rent of 18s. 5½d. crown rent, payable to the King and his successors. We may observe that the "crown rent" payable to the Crown for lands is the same rent as that which was formerly paid to the abbot or prior of the abbeys and priories confiscated from them under the statute of Henry VIII. – consequently lands held under the religious houses pay crown rent even to this day. Quit rent (Quietus Redditus) in the province of Connaught, merely three halfpence an acre, was for the first time imposed at the Restoration, and amounts in the islands of Aran to £14 8s. 4d.

A. D. 1687. A grant was made in this year by James II. of three-fourths of the tithes of Aran islands to the Most Reverend John Vesey, D.D., Protestant Lord Archbishop of Tuam, and his successors in the See. One could readily account for his Majesty's bestowing the tithes in question on the Catholic archbishop, but why he bestowed them on the Protestant line appears unaccountable; yet so it is stated in the appendix to the report of the Royal Commission (1868) on the revenues and condition of the Established Church, page 191.

A. D. 1691. On the surrender of Galway to the arms of William and Mary, a garrison was sent to Aran, and a barrack therein built in which soldiers were for many years stationed.

THE FLORA OF ARAN.

A. D. 1700. An excursion was made to the islands in this year by one whose name is well known by those who prefer to contemplate the silent life of vegetation to the saddening spectacle of man at variance with his fellow-man. Edward Lnwyd spent many months inspecting the flora of the islands, and having done so, made his report upon them, which is said to be a marvel in its way.

The fee of the islands had become vested in Edmund Fitzpatrick of Galway, Esquire; and he in 1717 demised the whole island of Inisheer to Andrew French of Galway, merchant, for thirty-one years, at the yearly rent of £100, with liberty to cut and carry away as much straw from Straw Island as should be deemed necessary to thatch the houses on the island of Inisheer.

ROYAL FRANCHISE.

A. D. 1746. The case of The Mayor of Galway v. Digby, conversant as it was with the royalties of the islands of Aran, caused great excitement in the town during the summer assizes of the year. The action was tried before Mr. Justice Caufield. Mr. Staunton, Mr. French, and another, appeared as counsel for the plaintiff; Mr. John Bodkin and Mr. Morgan for the defendant. The case as stated by the learned counsel for the plaintiff was that from times of remote antiquity the O'Briens were lords of the isles of Aran, or to use somewhat of legal phraseology, were lords of the manor of Aran, and as such, and in their manorial rights they were entitled to all the royal franchises, wrecks, and other strays washed on the shores either of the islands or mainlands of the bay. But the Crown had made a grant of the royal franchises away from the lords of the manor, and had conferred the same on the Admiral of the Bay of Galway, the office of Admiral of the Bay belonging to and being held by the mayor of the town. Now, on the 1st of August, 1745, a great whale, which appeared in the Aran waters, was stranded, and harpooned by the defendant, who obtained from it no less than fifty gallons of oil. The blubber and the whalebone were all there ready to be transported to the Dublin market, and the defendant had actually converted to his own use so much of this royal franchise as would realize a sum of £160. Plaintiff's patent was full, ample, and large; so full, so ample, and so large, that he, counsel, could not but wonder that any lawyer at the bar would sign the pleadings in a case in which a verdict must be directed on the spot for the plaintiff.

Counsel for the defendant did not feel so sure of the success of his learned friend's case as his learned friend did – quite the reverse; he must and at once ask the learned judge for a direction that the verdict be entered for him. He, Mr. Bodkin, admitted that a sturgeon and a whale were royal fish, but they were governed by widely different principles of law. If a sturgeon had been washed on the shore, then the King or his grantee could claim it and grant it to whomsoever they pleased, and the grantee here would not be entitled to it at all; but the whale is not the King's property to grant. Half of the whale is the perquisite of the Queen consort, and that being so, the grant fails. The King is only entitled to the head and the Queen to the tail. It was in old law laid down to be for the Queen's convenience to have abundance of whalebone for her boudoir, and so it is said in Bracton [l. 3. ch. 3], "of the sturgeon let it be noted that the King shall have it entire, but it is otherwise of the whale, for the King shall have the head and the queen the tail, sturgeone observetur quod rex illum habebit integrum: de Balena vero sufficit si rex habeat caput et regina caudam." A verdict was directed against the plaintiff, but whether any after move was made in the matter, or whether the Attorney-General intervened, we have been unable to discover. Suffice it to say that the corporation of Galway interfered no more in the matter.

A. D. 1754. John Digby demised the island of Inisheer to William MacNamara of Doolin, county Clare, for thirty-one years, at an annual rent of £90.

ARCHBISHOP PHILLIPS.

A. D. 1786. The Catholic Archbishop of Tuam, the most Rev. Philip Phillips, D.D., partaking of the hospitality of the parish priest of Aran, stopped a week in the islands: sleeping, however, on a bed of rushes, to which he had been unused, he got an attack of bronchitis, of which he shortly after died at Cloonmore, in the county of Mayo. One would have thought that he could have outlived a discomfort of that trivial kind, for he had been in early life a soldier – not a feather-bed soldier, but a distinguished officer in the Austrian service, and therefore it was that he was called Captain Phillips to the last hour of his life. It is not unworthy of remark that this prelate had, previous to his translation to Tuam, been Bishop of Killala, to which see he had in 1760 [1 Geo. III.] been by James III., King de jure sed non de facto of Great Britain and Ireland, nominated as appears by the apostolic letter of Clement XIII., dated Rome, November 24, 1760.

EARL BUTLER OF ARAN.

In the peerage we find that the earldom of Aran has been twice bestowed on families bearing different names. First in 1662, when Richard Butler (son of James, the twelfth Earl and first Duke of Ormonde) was created Earl of Aran. The honours of this nobleman having expired on his death without issue, the earldom was revived in 1693 in favour of Lord Charles Butler, brother of James, the second Duke of Ormonde. The story of the second Duke of Ormonde is a sad one. Having filled the highest offices in the state in Ireland under Charles II., he forgot his allegiance to his brother James II., and went over to the ranks of William and Mary. In 1702 he was constituted by Queen Anne Commander-in-Chief of the Forces of Great Britain, sent against France and Spain, when he destroyed the French fleet and sunk the Spanish galleons in the harbour of Vigo, for which important services he received the thanks of both houses of Parliament. In 1715 (2 George I.), his grace was attainted by the British but not by the Irish House of Parliament of high treason, and £10,000 set upon his head should he land in Ireland. His grace then retired to Avignon, and died in 1745, a pensioner of the crown of Spain. Upon the duke's death the Earl of Aran became entitled de jure to the dukedom, but was not aware of his rights, which he never claimed, being of opinion that the British Parliament destroyed not only the English but the Irish titles of honour of his deceased brother, the second duke. The Earl of Aran died without issue male, December 17, 1758, when the title became and was extinct.

GORE, EARL OF ARAN.

After four years, in 1762, the earldom was bestowed on another noble house, that of Gore, in the person of Sir Arthur Gore, and from him is descended Sir Arthur Charles William Fox Gore, fifth Earl of Aran, born on the night of storm, January 6, 1839.

A. D. 1857. The islands were visited by the British Association, under the leadership of Sir William Wilde, M.D., and the results of the visit were subsequently embodied in an interesting pamphlet by Martin Haverty, Esq., long assistant librarian to the Honourable Society of the King's Inns, Dublin. Subsequently the Earl of Dunraven, accompanied by a number of scientific friends, proceeded to the islands, when a series of magnificent photographs were executed, printed, and published under the supervision and direction of the accomplished editor, Miss Stokes, who has edited that ponderous work which throws so much light on the early history of this country.

CHAPTER IV

 
"Where the tints of the earth and the hues of the sky,
In colour though varied, in beauty may vie,
And the purple of ocean is deepest in dye."
 

Bride of Abydos.

THE ARAN ISLANDERS.

We have thus far spoken of the scenery of the islands, and of their natural history, of their antiquities, Pagan and Christian, and of their annals; let us now turn to speak of their people and of what others think of them. Doctor Petrie thus, in 1841, writes:

"I had heard so much of the Aran islanders, of their primitive simplicity, and singular hospitality, that I could not help doubting the truth of a picture so pleasing and romantic, and felt anxious to ascertain by personal observation how far it might be real. Collectively, the inhabitants may be said to exhibit the virtues of the Irish character with as little intermixture of vices as the lot of humanity will permit.

A POLITE PEOPLE.

"They are a brave and hardy race, industrious and enterprising, as is sufficiently evidenced, not only by the daily increasing number of their fishing vessels, the barren rocks which they are covering with soil and making productive, but still more by the frequency of their emigration from their beloved homes and friends to a distant country, led solely by the hope that their indefatigable labour may be employed there to the greater ultimate benefit of their families.

"They are simple and innocent, but also thoughtful and intelligent, credulous, and, in matters of faith, what persons of a different creed would call superstitious. Lying and drinking, the vices which Arthur Young considers as appertaining to the Irish character, form at least no part of it in Aran, for happily their common poverty holds out less temptation to the vices of lying and drinking.

"I do not mean to say they are rigidly temperate, or that instances of excess, followed by the usual Irish consequences of broken heads, do not occasionally occur – such could not be expected, when their convivial temperament and dangerous and laborious occupations are remembered. They never swear, and they have a high sense of decency and propriety, honour and justice. In appearance they are healthy, comely, and prepossessing; in their dress (with few exceptions) clean and comfortable; in manner serious yet cheerful, and easily excited to gaiety; frank and familiar in conversation, and to strangers polite and respectful, but at the same time free from servile adulation. They are communicative, but not too loquacious; inquisitive after information, but delicate in seeking it, and grateful for its communication.

"If the inhabitants of the Aran islands could be considered as a fair specimen of the ancient, and present wild Irish, the veriest savages in the globe, as the learned Pinkerton calls them – those whom chance has led to their hospitable shores to admire their simple virtues would be likely to regret that the blessings of civilization had ever been extended to any portion of this very wretched country."¹⁶

RESIGNATION OF THE ARANITES.

The devotional expressions of the Aranites and the meekness and resignation with which they bear misfortunes or afflictions is the most striking feature in their character. "I had a beautiful girl for a daughter," said an Aranite peasant, "and I laid her in her grave yesterday, praise be to His holy Name that took her to Himself." A poor woman asking for charity tells you that "she hasn't eaten a bit this day, thanks be to God." Another says, "In troth I have been suffering for a long time from poverty and sickness, glory be to God." Their mode of salutation, too, is worthy of remembrance. The visitor on entering a house says, "God save all here." Meet a man on the road, greet him with a "God save you, sir;" instantly he'll remove his hat and reply, "God save you kindly, your honour." If you pass by men working in a field, always address them with a "God bless the work, boys;" they will answer, "And you too, sir," and if you speak in Irish so much the better, and how their eyes will brighten up at hearing their mother-tongue spoken by "a gentleman's honour!"

THEIR PURITY OF MORALS.

To the purity of the morals of the Aran women there are many testimonies. Births of illegitimate children are of rare occurrence indeed. Sir Francis Head, in 1852, made a tour through Ireland, looking into every police barrack as he passed, and when all that was done he published a work entitled "A Fortnight in Ireland." Unsparing in his vilifications of the Catholic clergy, he is compelled to compare the people to whom they minister favourably with those of other countries in the world. Arriving in Galway his first visit was to the police barrack, where he inquired of the officer as to the morals of the Claddagh people, when the south isles of Aran thus came to be mentioned.

Sir F. Head. "How long have you been on duty in Galway?"

The officer replies, "Only six months."

Question. "During that time have you known of many instances of illegitimate children being born in the Claddagh?"

Answer. "Not a single case – not one; and not only have I never known of such a case, but I never heard any person attribute immorality to the fishwomen. I was on duty in the three islands of Aran, inhabited almost exclusively by fishermen, who also farm potatoes, and I never heard of any one of their women (who are remarkable for their beauty) having had an illegitimate child, nor did I ever hear it attributed to them. Indeed I have been informed by a magistrate who lived in Galway for eight years, and has been on temporary duty in the isles of Aran, that he has never heard there of a case of that nature. These people, however, when required to pay poor-rates, having no native poor of their own in the workhouse, resisted the payment of what they considered a very unjust tax. In fact they closed their doors when the rate was only partially collected."

Three and twenty years after Sir Francis Head wrote the above we read in the writings of Frank Thorpe Porter, Esq., a member of the Irish Bar, long a divisional magistrate for the city of Dublin, and some time acting chief justice for Gibraltar, a further testimony of the worth of the islanders. On his return from Spain, he visited his son, Mr. Frank Porter, M.D., medical officer of the islands,¹⁷ and whilst he was there several cases of typhus fever of a malignant type occurred.

THEIR KINDNESS.

The cottages are, with three or four exceptions, thatched and without any upper storey. The invariable course adopted during the prevalence of the epidemic was to nail up the door of the patient's apartment, to take out the sashes of the window, and render it the sole means of external communication. The medical attendant, priests, and nurse tenders had no other means of ingress and egress, and no objection appears to have ever been made to the system. Doctor Porter was stricken down by the disease, and although ten days had elapsed before a medical gentleman arrived from Galway, the doctor surmounted the fearful malady. "I spent," writes Mr. Porter, "each night in my son's apartment, and during the day he was attended by a nurse. Almost every night I heard some gentle taps outside the vacant window, and on going over to it, I would be told 'My wife is afther making a pitcher of whey for the poor docthor, you'll find it on the windy-stool;' or 'I brought you two jugs of milk to make whey for your son.' When the crisis had passed, and nutriment and stimulants were required, I would be told, 'We biled down two chickens into broth for the docthor, I hope it will sarve him.' Rabbits, chickens, and joints of kid were tendered for his use, and a bottle of 'rale Connemara Puttyeen,' was deposited on the window-stool. The people were all kind and anxious, and when he became able to walk out he was constantly saluted and congratulated; but no person would approach him if they could avoid it. They were all dreadfully apprehensive that he might impart the dreadful contagion. I brought him home as soon as possible, but he and I will always remember most gratefully the unvarying kindness and sympathy we experienced in Aran where they refused to take a farthing either for gratuity or compensation."

THEIR HOSPITALITY.

On September 3, 1886, Mr. R.F. Mullery, clerk of the Galway Union, thus, in answer to my letter to him, writes: —

"The present poundage-rate, one shilling in the pound, is exceptionally low, owing to a grant of £440, under the 'relief of the distressed Unions Act,' having been made to the islands. The average rate for the last ten years was three shillings in the pound. We never have islanders. There is no hospital, though there ought to be one, on the islands, as the sick poor are deterred from coming thirty miles by boat to the workhouse. The general health is exceptionally good, and very many live to a very old age. I have an opportunity of knowing this, as I have to examine the registry of deaths at the end of each quarter. The islanders as a rule are very intelligent, and quick at picking up anything they can either hear or see; and, best of all, they are a moral people, a case of illegitimacy scarcely ever occurring in the islands, and then it is looked on as a crime of the blackest dye.

"I have the honour, etc.,

"Robert F. Mullery."

The following extract from a letter written by my learned friend, Philip Lyster, Esq., barrister-at-law, resident magistrate of the district in which Aran is situated, bears testimony to the peaceful and law-abiding character of the islanders: —

"Belfast, September 26, 1886.

"My dear Burke,

"My absence from Galway upon special duty in the north has prevented my replying to your note of the 18th inst. until now.

THEIR INDUSTRY.

"The Aran islanders as a body are an extremely well-behaved and industrious people. There are sometimes assaults on each other, which invariably arise out of some dispute in connection with the land, and are generally between members of the same family. There are very few cases of drunkenness. I have known two months to elapse without a single case being brought up. I should say that for four years, speaking from memory, I have not sent more than six or seven persons to jail without the option of a fine. There is no jail on the islands. We hardly ever have a case of petty larceny. I remember only one case of potato stealing, when the defendant was sent for trial and punished. There are often cases of alleged stealing of seaweed in some bona-fide dispute as to the ownership, which we then leave to arbitration by mutual consent. I know very little of the history of the islands. In the last century justice used to be administered by one of the O'Flaherty family, the father of the late James O'Flaherty, of Kilmurvy House, Esq., J.P. He was the only magistrate in the islands, but ruled as a king. He issued his summons for 'the first fine day,' and presided at a table in the open air. If any case deserved punishment he would say to the defendant, speaking in Irish, 'I must transport you to Galway jail for a month.' The defendant would beg hard not to be transported to Galway, promising good behaviour in future. If, however, his worship thought the case serious, he would draw his committal warrant, hand it to the defendant, who would, without the intervention of police or any one else, take the warrant, travel at his own expense to Galway, and deliver himself up, warrant in hand, at the county jail. I am afraid things are very much changed since those days. Excuse my not going more fully into the subject-matter of your letter. Duties here are heavy. Believe me,

"Sincerely yours,

"Philip Lyster."

THEIR DRESS.

The dress of the islanders is said, by those who understand such things, to be picturesque; but beyond all doubt their shoes, or rather slippers, made of untanned cow-hide with the hairy side out, and without heels and without soles, are the most unpicturesque foot-dress in Europe. These they call Pampoodies.