PATRICK W. HAYES
Boydell and Brewer
£90
ISBN 9781783277063
REVIEWED BY Simon Egan
Simon Egan is a lecturer in Medieval Irish History at Queen’s University, Belfast.
Recent years have witnessed an increasing interest in the environmental history of pre-modern Ireland. This very welcome study by Patrick Hayes adds to this growing body of research. The book explores the development of the island’s sea fisheries, from their rise to prominence in the later fourteenth century through to their collapse in the early 1600s. The introduction situates this study within the context of evolving scholarship on environmental history. Hayes contends that research on Ireland’s sea fisheries has hitherto been too local in focus and has relied overwhelmingly on anecdotal evidence from fragmentary sources. He seeks to offer a systematic re-investigation of the fisheries by placing them within a framework that embraces the latest digital humanities methods.
The first chapter surveys some of the source material available for reconstructing a history of Ireland’s sea fisheries. The reader is then taken on a journey along Ireland’s coastline, from Dublin northwards across Ulster, and south along the western seaboard before returning to Leinster. This approach provides an excellent introduction to Ireland’s rich maritime heritage: Hayes outlines the sources for exploring both the rural and urban contexts and this section will undoubtedly serve as an important guide for future researchers.
The second chapter moves on to explore how these fisheries operated in practice. It examines the economic dimension underpinning the fishing industry and pays particular attention to the presence of English and Continental fishermen in Irish waters. Foreign fishermen were forced to pay duties for fishing in the waters of Irish lords, and the O’Driscoll lordship of Baltimore offers a detailed case-study of this dynamic. Hayes also explores the frequency of Continental fishermen in Irish waters; next to the English, Spanish fishermen were by far the most common and were primarily active on the coastline stretching from Wexford to Dingle. Evidence for a French presence is more limited, but Hayes raises the intriguing prospect that an examination of French archives may yield further results. The chapter also describes, in wonderful detail, how fish were caught. Hook-and-line was by far the most common method of fishing. Although it was a relatively primitive form of technology, it could be used in ingenious ways. Lines could run for kilometres and be adjusted to the daily cycles of their prey. For instance, hake rise closer to the surface at night and fishing lines could be weighted accordingly to catch different species of fish.
Chapter 3 examines the evidence for the fishing trade in more detail. English port books form the main staple here and Hayes reconstructs how fish were exported from Ireland in the later medieval and early modern periods. As the author admits, it is far easier to uncover links between the towns of Ireland’s eastern seaboard and England than it is for the western seaboard. Evidence for Gaelic participation in the export trade is very limited, though Hayes acknowledges that this may be due to the lack of surviving sources. Indeed, it is entirely possible that a flourishing large-scale, unregulated and undocumented trade existed on the western seaboard.
The fourth chapter discusses the decline of Ireland’s fisheries in the later sixteenth century, examining the impact of the Tudor conquest, the various Plantation schemes and the disruption caused by piracy. Chapter 5 offers some fascinating insights into the consumption of fish in Ireland. Hayes examines the central role played by fish in feeding English soldiers on campaign and argues that supplies of dried fish, though not particularly pleasant to eat, were vital to the eventual English victory in the Nine Years War. The final chapter returns to the environmental context in more detail. Hayes provides an illuminating discussion of some of the methods used by people in the sixteenth century to conserve fish stocks. For example, in the sixteenth century the English government in Ireland restricted watermills from polluting rivers in an attempt to protect salmon stocks. Similar concerns existed about oyster beds in Dublin Bay. The chapter also places events such as the Nine Years War within a wider ecological context: investigating oceanic shifts, alongside human factors, is crucial in understanding the decline of Ireland’s fisheries.
There are some aspects of the book that could have been developed in a little more detail. As noted, Hayes argues that scholars have relied too heavily on anecdotal evidence. While this book does indeed bring to light exciting new evidence, source material is largely concentrated on the eastern seaboard and its relationship with England. For the western Atlantic littoral, one is still reliant on anecdotal evidence and the excellent work of archaeologists such as Connie Kelleher and Colin Breen. Hayes is also on less sure ground regarding the politics of Tudor Ireland. Some interesting points are raised in relation to English attempts to wrest control of the fisheries from the indigenous Irish: the discussion would have benefited from engaging with the growing body of work on state-sponsored violence in Tudor Ireland, such as that of David Edwards, Brendan Kane and James O’Neill, to name a few. Nevertheless, this is an important study and makes a notable contribution to the history of pre-modern Ireland. The book contains numerous maps and tables documenting the rich history of Ireland’s fisheries and Hayes brings together a wealth of new information. This study should be essential reading for anyone working on the economic and political history of pre-modern Ireland.