Remembering the Most Successful Peaceful Protest in Ballyshannon

Cis Cleary Kildoney  (seated in red on the left) who unveiled the Fishermen's Memorial before a huge crowd at the Mall Quay 4th August 2013

Wednesday 22nd April 2020. The most successful peaceful protest in Ballyshannon took place at the Mall Quay and is an example of people fighting for their basic right to fish their own waters. The 4th most popular blog on Facebook.

This blog is dedicated to my old school friend Dan Gibbons who had roots in the Kildoney area and whose family have been closely associated with fishing.  It is also in memory of my brother-in-law Michael O'Kane Trillick and all those who died locally in the past few weeks and to whom you and I could not say farewell. The following words of William Allingham are appropriate:

 Though heads that now are black and brown must meanwhile gather grey,

New faces rise by every hearth, and old ones drop away-

Yet dearer still that Irish hill than all the world beside;

It’s home, sweet home, where’er I roam through lands and waters wide.

And if the Lord allows me, I surely will return

                                          To my native Belashanny, and the winding banks of Erne.

5 Fun Quiz. all answers in the blog below.
1. Who unveiled the memorial at the Mall Quay in 2013?
2. What happened on a June morning in 1925?
3. Who was the solicitor for the fishermen?
4. How many men were in the first boat in the estuary in 1933/ See photo.
5. Complete the line from Allingham.
"Farewell to you, Kildoney lads-------"

Local Fishermen Unable to Fish on the Erne

The Erne Fishery  was  privately owned originally by landlord and later by business interests.

The salmon boxes located above the Assaroe Falls were emptied regularly for the Derry Company and the warehouse buildings (which still survive as the Mulligan building today) were used to cure and store the fish. In earlier times an ice house overlooking the Assaroe waterfall was used to store the fish. 

However most local fishermen could not afford to fish on the Erne. These local fishermen were disappointed as they were deprived from fishing their native waters to earn a livelihood.

Yet who would have the courage to do anything about it? 

• Who would take on the system and assert their rights to fish unhindered in the waters which were visible in some instances from their homes? 
• The answer lay with the fishermen from Kildoney who were joined by sympathetic fishermen from a wide area. Matters reached a head in June 1925.

Crucially for the fishermen who took the court case, it was established that in  the 12th century the Cistercian monks at Abbey Assaroe had  fishing rights on the Erne and the native Gaelic chieftains the O’Donnells who had a castle at Ballyshannon were known as ‘the kings of the fishe.’ No exclusive fishing rights prevented local people from fishing at that period. 

The Plantation of the 17th century saw the dispossession of the native owners and the introduction of planters who took not only  land but the rich fishing grounds on the Erne. The Folliotts who gained control at first, sold their title to the Conolly estate. Eventually fishing rights were passed on to Moore and Alexander of the Erne Fishery Company who were to become known as the Derry Company.

Kildoney Fishermen Challenge the Derry Company

On an early June morning in 1925, a chosen crew of local fishermen; John Cleary, Hugh Gavigan, Red Willie Goan, Mickey Mc Carthy, Willie Morrow and William Phillips, launched their small tar-and-canvas boat, out into the Erne between the Assaroe Falls and the Bar at Ballyshannon. A crowd had gathered at the Mall Quay to witness their challenge to the Fishery Company, including two members of the local Garda Siochána, who had been notified by the fishermen of their intentions.

When the fishermen shot their net the Erne fishery motorboat appeared on the scene, rammed and sank their boat, seized their nets and accompanied them to the Mall Quay where the fishermen were greeted with acclaim. The fishermen and their legal team of Frank Gallagher and James Mc Loone  now faced court proceedings, which they had envisaged when they commenced their actions.

Local People became Legal Experts

The District Court, The High Court and the Supreme Court had to adjudicate on the merits of the legal arguments on both sides. Indeed an appeal was subsequently made to the Privy Council in England which was to place the case in an international setting. 

Local people in Kildoney and the surrounding Ballyshannon area were to become legal experts, as they discussed the merits of the Magna Carta, the Brehon Laws and the Privy Council. No other incident in our history provoked such legal debates and discussions with the history of Ballyshannon and the Erne Fisheries being examined and discussed. 

It was established that at the time of the death of Henry 11 in 1189 Donegal was an unconquered Gaelic stronghold and as such exclusive fishing rights should not subsequently have been recognised. The Brehon Laws also backed up this claim.

The Kildoney Fishermen Memorial at the Mall Quay April 2020.

Hopefully people will soon be able to take a seat at this peaceful place.

Victory for the Local Fishermen

The courts found in favour of the Kildoney fishermen after protracted legal arguments. Great celebrations followed on the Mall Quay on the evening of 5^th August 1933. 
Frank Gallagher spoke passionately of their struggle:

By our magnificent fight, we have righted a grievous wrong, a wrong that has root  three hundred years and more. No longer would native fishermen have to trawl the open ocean for fish in canvas boats while all the river-mouths around the coast were in the hands of foreigners with their spurious fishing rights. 

An historic photograph with the first boat in the Erne estuary after winning the court case in 1933.

(l.to r.) Willie Morrow, John Cleary, Jim Scanlon, Willie Goan, Bob Scanlon and Hugh Gavigan.

The legal challenge was brought by the following men who were commemorated on the Kildoney Fishermen Memorial at the Mall Quay on 4th August 2013:
 
John Cleary, Francis Coughlin, Patrick Coughlin, John Daly, Michael Daly, Richard Davis Jnr, Alex Duncan, Charles Furey, James Furey, Hugh Gavigan, John Gavigan Snr, Gerard Gillespie, James Gillespie, John Gillespie, Patrick Gillespie, Charles Gallogley, James Gallogley, John Goan, Patrick Goan, Willie Goan Snr, Joe Grimes, Patrick Haughey, William Hilley, Bernard Holland, James Keenan, Joseph Keenan, Michael Kennedy, William Kennedy, Alex Mc Cafferty, John Mc Cafferty, Patrick Mc Cafferty, Red John Mc Cafferty, John Mc Carty, Michael Mc Carty, Darby Mc Groarty, Frank Mc Neely, Tom Mc Neely, Michael Mc Phelim, Hugh Mooney, William Morrow(Legs), William Morrow, William Phillips, James Scanlon. Frank Gallagher, Master Keegan and Frank Gettins will also be commemorated on the memorial.

Memorial Unveiled Sunday 4th August 2013

The courageous campaign led by the Kildoney fishermen revealed that local people had rights to the natural resources of the river. It is appropriate that  80 years later, an impressive memorial to the memory of all who supported this fight was unveiled by Cis Daly, Kildoney, at the Mall Quay on Sunday 4^th August 2013. The event was organised by their descendants, neighbours and the wider community. Paddy Donagher The Abbey, Joe Roper Corker and Tom McNeely Kildoney co-ordinated the magnificent memorial event and led the team who sponsored the lasting memorial to the brave men who fought for the rights of all fishermen.

Farewell to  you, Kildoney lads, and them that pull  an oar,
A lug -  sail set, or haul a net, from the Point to Mullaghmore
From Killybegs to bold Slieve-League, that ocean-mountain steep,

Six hundred yards in air aloft, six hundred in the deep,
From Dooran to the Fairy Bridge, and round by Tullen strand,
Level and long, and white with waves, where gull and curlew stand;
Head out to sea when on your lee the breakers you discern!-
Adieu to all the billowy coast, and  winding banks of Erne!

William Allingham

Limited edition quality hardback with dust jacket as above available when things return to normal in A Novel Idea and Local Hands Ballyshannon and Four Masters Bookshop Donegal Town. Also available for postage from anthonyrbegley@hotmail.com