Fishing

Donegal has over 400 miles of coastline and fishing has long supported life in the county. Fishermen in the past were generally small farmers and farm labourers who supplemented their income with fishing, by hiring boats and sharing equipment. They were generally better off than the people who lived inland. Herring was extremely important to the diet of the county, as it was plentiful and cheap, with most of the rural poor in the 19th century living on a diet of herring and potatoes. The hunting of whales off the Donegal Coast began in the early 18th century. Whale bone and blubber was extremely valuable and used for the production of oil. At first whaling in Donegal had little success due to lack of suitable equipment. But a small whaling station in Donegal Bay enjoyed some success in the 1760s. Whales caught off the Donegal Coast had to be sent to London for processing, which led to efforts to open new whaling stations in Donegal in the late 19th century. This was met with an onslaught of objections from locals, especially fishermen, who feared the whaling industry would damage the herring and salmon stocks. Locals also objected to the noise and smells that would result from the large processing station. This led to a public inquiry, which resulted in the abandonment of the proposed Whaling Stations.

Farming

Farming has been an important part of Irish life since the first farmers arrived here in c.4500BC. The Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for Ireland was established in 1899 and based in Dublin. It had responsibility for introducing schemes for improvements in farming. A committee based in Lifford called the County Donegal Committee for Agriculture carried this out. The department and the Donegal Committee ran a series of schemes on livestock, horticulture, poultry beekeeping, flax growing, diary farming and forestry. They also gave lectures and visited farms giving advice to farmers. Every year they awarded prizes for a Cottage and Small Farm scheme. District inspectors reported to the committee after inspecting the farms and awarded the prizes. The farms and cottages were judged on; cleanliness; variety of vegetables grown; care of livestock; condition of land, fences and gates; efficiency of cultivation and the planting of trees and hedges.

Report of Mr. E.S. Daly
Innishowen, Derry No. 2 and Letterkenny Division

Gentlemen, - I submit lists of awards made by me in the above district.

Cottages:
Some of the cottages were very well kept indeed, the houses thoroughly clean, and showing an amount of taste.

Gardens:
The gardens were tilled, and with a fair variety of useful vegetables and fruit; and some flowers, while fowl or pigs or both, as the case might be, were well housed and cared for. A large number of cottagers took little or no pains with their holdings and ought to be ashamed to enter themselves for competition, as they had no merit, even the houses being untidy inside, gardens half tilled and soforth.
In Innishowen the cottages, except in about half a dozen instances showed no particular merit. But in the small farm section Innishown shows up well, far more so than Letterkenny.

Farms, Dwelling Houses and Offices:
The houses were for the most part tidy; offices are gradually being improved, small ill-ventilated byres and stables giving way to roomy, well-ventilated, and well lighted ones, and the dwelling-houses are being properly floored. This is a good sign, and one that deserves the greatest encouragement.
Just one point ought to be attended to, and that is the erection of a separate place for milk and butter. This is neglected, and the old system of setting milk in bedrooms and sculleries - though this is gradually disappearing - still prevails.
The farms are for the most part creditable, especially in Innishowen, where a large percentage of the land is reclaimed from the mountain side, and where this good work is still going on on a large scale.
The gardens contain hardly anything but cabbage. This should not be the case. All farmers should make an effort to grow some varieties of vegetables and fruit for their own use. The two excuses invariably put forward are (1) we don't know how to grow them; (2) we don't know how to use them. These are both very lame excuses, as they have only to avail themselves of the instructions given by the instructors in these subjects.

Grazing:
The sole (soil) in grazing land is usually poor. This could be largely remedied by adding to the mixtures of seeds.
Nearly every farmer has gone in for planting shelter of some sort.

Livestock;
Live stock is, generally speaking, in need of improvement. Cows are very small and ragged, although some very fine types are met with.
The pigs are rather good thriving sorts.
Pure breeds of fowl are met with on almost every farm now.
The housing is gradually improving, but far too many dirty, dark, and ill-ventilated byres and stables still exist.

Points For Attention

I remain, Yours faithfully,
E.S. Daly
September 5th, 1911

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