resulting in a report by the Royal Commission on Congestion, published in Volume 40 of the Parliamentary Papers, now on
Google Books. Apparently the working assumption was that there were too many residents on too little productive land.
However Commission members learned a lot more than that simple notion, as they heard from a variety of people actually
on the land, not only landlords but also people who had been working the land ever since when and also engaged in other
types of industry like fishing and mining. The data and testimony published in the report come from several northern
counties and Clare.
After the report, there are appendixes, which contain data only from Clare, lots of it: every conceivable aspect of
productivity and population statistics. I had no idea that among the dozen or so owners of premium bulls in that time
period was my family's own Patrick Donnellan, shown with an odd version of his Clashduff/Gortadroma residence (in the
report: Backfield, Belvoir, Sixmilebridge) on p. 318. The below image is the list of poultry farmers on p. 319. I also show a
portion of the East Clare landlords of that time. The third screenshot is this Commission's finding of the only district in
Clare that fit the legislative category of being congested, that is, having too many people to live off the land in that
jurisdiction. After the charts in the appendix section there is a short "notes" section in which the Commission describes
southwest Galway as being the worst region of the island in terms of not affording a decent living. There is also the
observation that the people there do not complain much as long as the potato crop is sufficient and no one there was
looking to leave.
My quick reading of the testimony from Clare residents indicates the county was feeling the impact of its young people
leaving and that many people saw breaking up the estates as a solution, so that unused grass land could be added to
farmers' holdings to reach adequate yields. In Appendix II, there is a table on p. 321 on untenanted Clare land, using 1906
data. This appendix, which starts on p. 271, is full of such tables. In another posting following this one, I will describe
the emigration aspect of the data and testimony, so that I can show some of that in screenshots.
In addition to all the Clare material in the appendix section, it is very useful to review testimony related to the various
districts of Clare, received from named residents, listed with their residences and occupations. A full witness list appears
on page iv (at the very start of the report). The testimony from Clare residents starts on p. 166, with East Clare
residents starting on p. 219. Since there is a search engine provided with this Google book, just use a keyword or surname
to reach the section that most interests you. You will see there details that you might never find elsewhere, from the
mouths of the people with real, lifelong experiences of what was going on in their neighborhoods.
Those interested in stone quarrying might want to read the testimony of the man who owned all those quarries, starting
on p. 169. Operations were run by English companies, and the best quality stone was considered to be the extra-hard
white sandstone. Apparently all such stone was shipped out of Liscannor.
posted by Sharon Carberry
- Poultry farmers 1907 ParlP vol 40.jpg (42.84 KiB) Viewed 3203 times
- E. Clare landlords 1906.jpg (70.63 KiB) Viewed 3203 times
- Mountshannon as poorest area, ParlP vol 40.jpg (56.17 KiB) Viewed 3203 times