Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: Áine
Date: 18 Oct 02 - 02:04 PM

Glad you like the idea, a chara!

Kevin is definitely on the 'wanted' list; as well as Amos, don't ya think? And how 'bout Big Mick, too? And if any other 'Catters are reading this who'd like to offer a song for the cause, let us know!!

Le meas is grá, Áine

(P.S. A Lór, did you get my message last night?)

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: InOBU
Date: 18 Oct 02 - 01:59 PM

Áine! YES! A CD would be a grand idea. Let's PM McGrath, and try and put someting together in our humble studios, then get some Catter to edit it onto one disk. How does that sound to you Brian?

J. V. Mullen is an old friend of mine, not connected to Mudcat, but he should be! He is the direct descendant of the Mullen who was hanged for his membership in the Molly McQuires, and on his mother's side from another Collins, I think, also hanged on the same day for the same event. Both are mentioned in the song, The Ghosts of the Molly McQuires. He is responsible for one of the Irish Genocide/Famine committees here in the US, and with the Famine walls and fishing prohibitions, I figure he is a good fellow to contact about Lough Neagh!

Great to see everyone thinking and talking about this, it is a good start.

Cheers Larry

line breaks added by mudelf ;-)

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: Áine
Date: 18 Oct 02 - 01:58 PM

Here are the links that Fibula Mattock provided above, but with the site names added:

Lough Neagh and Lower Bann Wetlands Website

Inland Waterways Association of Ireland Homepage

IWAI-Northern Ireland Branch-Lough Neagh

IWAI-Northern Ireland Branch- Eel Fishing - The Lough Neagh Eel Fishery by Rev. Oliver P. Kennedy

And thanks for the clarification, Brian -- and say hello to your cousin for me, OK?

All the best, Áine

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: GUEST,Brian F. Hannon of ARDBOE
Date: 18 Oct 02 - 01:47 PM

Dear Aine, j. V. Mullins is a Person who wrote to me an Email yesterday evening about the Lough , and when i checked out this site this morning I thought i saw his name mentioned ,cant find it now so I will email him direct .IWAI stands for INLAND WATERWAY ASSOCIATION of IRELAND where someone discovered it, an Obscure place for The Priests Writings . SEE at Bottom right side corner the Words CONTD OVERLEAF for the second part of his Story . O,Cuin is a second cousin of mine , son of a fisherman and he aids me with his knowhow on this here juke box. Best.

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: Áine
Date: 18 Oct 02 - 01:43 PM

. . . I'll be the first to buy the record -- Mmmmmm, now there's an idea, folks.

Larry and Brian, what do you think? Do you think a 'Free Lough Neagh' CD (a) would be possible, and (b) would help in the cause? I know that I'd be willing to add a song to it -- I took weerover's idea to heart and I've put the tune of Bantry Girl's Lament (with a repeat of the last few measures for the last four lines) to The Lily of Lough Neagh -- and I must say, it sounds a treat. Thank you, weerover!

I think a fund-raising CD is an idea worth mulling over. What do the rest of you think?

All the best, Áine

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: dermod in salisbury
Date: 18 Oct 02 - 01:32 PM

Thanks to Fibula Mattock for those very interesting links. The account of the fishery dispute by Father Kennedy reads very convincingly. He seems to be saying that the local fishermen cooperative now runs the show completely, and that any controls on catches relate to stock preservation and market forces. Brian Hannon's post, on the other hand, suggests there is still a strong sense of grievance by some fishermen. It may be, Larry, that this is one of those issues that are more likely to be sorted out by a letter to the Office of Fair Trading, if the root of the problem is how fishing licenses are handed out by the monopoly holder. If, on the other hand, the problem is that some absentee title holder is still getting a backhander, then I am afraid Mr Hannon may not have much success. The entire housing market in Scotland is still based on ancient feu holders rights.   I don't envy your task of setting all this to music. But if you manage it, I'll be the first to buy the record.

Best wishes - Dermod

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: Áine
Date: 18 Oct 02 - 12:45 PM

A Bhrían,

Cupla questions -- Who is J.V. Mullins and what is the IWAI? Oh yes, I had a lovely message left in the guestbook on my own website yesterday by a 'c. o'cuinn' -- Do you know this fella?

Ádh mór ort, Áine

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: GUEST,Brian F. Hannon
Date: 18 Oct 02 - 12:31 PM

I was just about to advise J V. Mullins about the IWAI Items. You see Folks , You will have to Decide to Opt for either Being Practical and wondering What are we Kerneing about OR Be Conceptually IDEALISTIC as I am.

Personally I in no way can Accept as Righteous in PRINCIPLE to fish in our Lough by the Feudal Rights Earned by The ETHNIC Cleanser WARLORD Sir Arthur Chichester of The Nine Years War Fame [1594-1603] . For his Military Services as Grounds on which his Nephew, His Heir The First LORD Donegall [English Type] applied for and got, all without Due Process, the 1661 Year Royal WAR REWARD CHARTER that DELETED all Irish Rights from us for 341 years till today to the Convoluted paying of ROYALTIES [THE RENT] from the Start of the Alleged Cooperative in Toome in year 1965, who in some complex procedure Pays THE Subsidary [Existing only on Paper for the benefit of THE DONEGAL TITLE] Toome EEL Company Company, who then pays The Earl's Local Company, Who Then Pay The EARL his Money.

This is as Best as I Can Figure, The Fishermen don't pay the Rent Direct. They never paid from year 1661 to year 1965, even though they had No Irish Rights in it. The Above Procedure is started by the Fishermen bringing their Catch till Toome, and then The Priest and his Loyal Office Followers in TOOME start the aforesaid procedure till get the ROYALTIES till the Absentee English Landlord, and whatever is left sent by monthly Check to the fishermen on the Lough Shore.

You will have to Decide for Yourselves the Decision of a Roman Catholic Priest in Blessing The Ethnic Cleanser WARLORD's Reward Charter and its Deeds-in-Tail and telling the Lawfully Dispossessed Tribe that it was All Right.

Also you may wish to Consider The Leadership of his Bishop Doctor William Philbin, The Bishop of Down and Connor, who Blessed his Endeavours at that time. The Ultimate Leading and Guiding Back to in under the Heel of the Absentee English Landlord System of Feudal Tenure.

In year 1965 there were over 200 boats fish harvesting on LOUGH NEAGH and now after 37 years of His Stewartship there is just below 100 boats. Is The Roman Catholic Church Proud of this Priest's Care of This Tribe of Indigenous People?? OR DO THEY WANT to KNOW?? Is there Silence and Denial Here??

line breaks and formatting added for clarity by mudelf

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: InOBU
Date: 18 Oct 02 - 11:06 AM

Hi Fibula Mattock!

Thanks for the sites! Excellent resourse, though, I think the second one puts a wee bit of a happy face on the whole issue, and we will hear more from Brian Hannon about the realities of fishing to support rents to a landlord who lives hundreds of miles from the Lough. I think one gets a very diffent view of a place when one is looking at it, as one is shooting a net or paying out a long trawl line then when one is writing a piece for the add boys.

Cheers and thanks again, Larry

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: Fibula Mattock
Date: 18 Oct 02 - 10:13 AM

Dammit, second blue clicky should be:

http://ni.iwai.ie/eel%20express/eels.htm

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: Fibula Mattock
Date: 18 Oct 02 - 10:11 AM

dermod - yeah, you remember correctly, there's a co-operative.
Info online at:
http://www.loughneagh.com/index.htm

http://ni.iwai.ie/eel%20express/eels.htm

http://www.ni-assembly.gov.uk/culture/reports/report2-00r5.htm#3

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: InOBU
Date: 18 Oct 02 - 09:53 AM

Great to see our friend Brian Hannon here on Mudcat. Lough Neagh is one of those places we so love to think about for its beauty and its fame in poetry and song, that we forget that it is home to hard working fisher folks like Brian and his mates, who struggle against nature and injustice to feed their families and a hungery world.

Let's put our heads together and figure how we as singers and artists can put Brian's concerns before as much of the world as we can.

Sing truth to power, folks, I am going to try and get a song out soon, but in the mean time, lets sing Toome Eel Fisheries at sessions for a start, and tell folks that their interest and concern is still needed untill the lough is free and teaming with bounty.

Cheers and solidarity, Larry

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: Áine
Date: 17 Oct 02 - 04:09 PM

Here's some more information about Lough Neagh that I found on this site:

Lough Neagh is the largest freshwater lake in Great Britain and Ireland. Being a lowland lake, Lough Neagh is very fertile with lush and diverse species of plant-life, some of which are rare in other parts of Northern Ireland. These plants provide a great variety of natural habitats for insects, birds and fish to feed and nest in. Designated as an area of special scientific interest, Lough Neagh is one of Europe's most important wetland environments. Each winter the lough attracts the largest number of wildfowl in the British Isles (up to 100,000), which makes it one of the most important refuge sites for birds in Europe. Lough Neagh is also a very rich fishing ground and consequently supports the largest eel fishing industry in Western Europe.

The lough is also a major source of drinking water, supplying 460,000 of Northern Ireland's 1,600,000 population. After use, much of this water returns to the lough via sewage treatment works making the lough an important waste outlet. Unfortunately, over the last century the lough has become slowly more polluted. This decade has seen the levels of pollution once again on the rise. There is a very real threat that, if unchecked, this could lead to the death of fish and insect life. In turn, this could have a serious effect on people who make a living from the lough.

. . . during winter, Lough Neagh attracts the largest number of wildfowl in the British Isles (up to 100,000). These birds, mostly ducks, come from Iceland, Russia and Scandinavia. . . . hundreds of islands . . . are dotted throughout Lough Neagh. Most of these islands are part of the Lough Neagh National Nature Reserves which are managed by nature wardens. They protect the thousands of rare birds that breed on the islands.


-- Áine

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: weerover
Date: 17 Oct 02 - 02:57 PM

I think the tune to "The Bantry Girl's Lament" would fit "The Lily of Lough Neagh" but don't know if it has quite the right feel

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: GUEST,Brian F. Hannon of Ardboe Human Rights Acti
Date: 17 Oct 02 - 02:39 PM

Right you are , Larry ,from the Tree of Landlordism ,at the Root how can the Situation be expected to bear the Fruits of Emancipation , Liberation and Freedom , all that good stuff for The Indigenous Native Irish Fisher People of Lough Neagh that includes the women and the childer to as well . That Tree must Fall and the Collective Ancestoral Fishing {for FOOD} Rights of our Forefathers till be Restored to all the Irish People of The Lough Shore . We will need till get intill the Media in America , a Big Story . I am a bit Choked up at this Time , I will write a DESACRATION of the Lough Saga for you all soon HERE .

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 17 Oct 02 - 02:22 PM

The tune of the Blarney Roses would fit the Lily of Lough Neagh pretty well, with a repeat. That's in the DT I think, but it won't open for me at present, so here is a link to the song on another site, thouh without the tune.

And a Rose for a Lily seems an appropriate connection.

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: InOBU
Date: 17 Oct 02 - 12:59 PM

Dermond, your right that there was a change after a case about the monopoly a few years back. I have been in touch with a Lough Neagh fisherman, part of an association, who tells me that it has only lead to new troubles, that absentee landlordism is still at the root. Hopefully my friend may post to this soon, in the mean time, I am learning what I can from him. Cheers Larry

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: dermod in salisbury
Date: 17 Oct 02 - 12:55 PM

Having been born in Toome, and, as a nipper, having gone out on to the lough with both the licensed fishermen and 'poachers', whose boats were less than half a mile way around the shore, I am pretty well bound to chip in to this thread. Perhaps I am mistaken, but I thought this issue had been resolved some years ago. The monopoly of the Toome Eel Fishery originates, I think, in rights given to the City of London by King James to encourage it to invest and set up plantations in this part of Northern Ireland. But was not the fishery bought out by a commune of eel fishermen in the 1960s? For sure, it has been a complex issue. Being from Toome does not mean, of course, that I am qualified to make head or tail of any of it. But I would be interested to know of any authoritative account.

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: InOBU
Date: 17 Oct 02 - 12:51 PM

The Great Eel Robbery was done by a band called the Men of No Property, back when... We'll have to speak on the phone to come up with the wee songs above, Larry

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: Áine
Date: 17 Oct 02 - 12:44 PM

A Lórcan a chara chóir,

Any chance you could find a tune that would fit The Lily of Lough Neagh? It's just beggin' to be sung, don't ya think? And do you know the tune to The Emigrant's Farewell? I think I have a recording of it somewhere; but, I can't bend down or reach up at the moment, so I can't look for it.

Le grá is mise Áine

(P.S. Who wrote The Great Eel Robbery?)

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: InOBU
Date: 17 Oct 02 - 07:35 AM

There is more on this under the post BOSTON REGION MUDCATTERS. I think it is time for a Boston Tea/Eel party! Irish Americans to the door! Cheers Larry

blue clicky thing added by mudelf ;-)

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries - Free Lough Neagh!
From: InOBU
Date: 16 Oct 02 - 11:05 PM

Áine, a chara! Great start and help. thanks to all, Larry

Subject: Lyr Add: EMIGRANT'S FAREWELL and LILY OF LOUGH...
From: Áine
Date: 16 Oct 02 - 10:13 PM

Here are a song and a poem I found about Lough Neagh:

The Emigrant's Farewell

Fare ye well my native green clad hills
Fare ye well my shamrock plain
Ye verdant banks of sweet Lough Neagh
And ye silvery winding streams
Though far from my home in green Tyrone
My Flora first I strayed
I adore you Killcolpy
Where I spent my boyhood days.

Shall I ever see the grand old plains
Where in boyhood days I roved
Or wander through those grand old woods
With the girl I dearly loved
Shall I ever more by Lough Neagh's shore
E're pass the summer day.
Or hear again the larks sweet strain
Or hear the blackbirds pysomes play.

Shall I ever rove by Belmonts grove
Or Cranan's lofty hills
Or hear again the fairy tale
Of the rath behind the mill
Will the nightingale that charms the vale
By me be heard no more
As I watched at eve the wild drake leave
For the bogs of sweet Dromore.

Shall my oars e're rest on your wild wave crest
Or again see the salmon play
While sailing o'er from Tyrone's green shore
Bound for Antrim Bay
Or an autumn gale e're fill my sail
With a dim declining moon
See me tempest toss on the shores of Doss
Or the raging Bay of Toome.

Shall I ne'er behold Shane's Castle bold
Or gaze on Mazzereene
Shall my cot e're land on the banks of Bann
Coney Island or Roskeen.
Shall I ever stray by the Washingbay
The weary trout to coy
Or set my line on an evening fine
Round the shores of green Mountjoy.

All for you Ardboe my tears do flow
When I think and call to mind
My parents dear and friends sincere
And comrades true and kind
But I hope to graze on your flowery braes
E're seven long years come round
And hands to clasp in friendships grasp
Of those I left behind.

My friends out here in America
Have all that there hearts desire
My pockets filled with dollar bills
I am dressed in the grand attire
I would give it all for one country ball
At home by the old hearth stone
In a cabin near Lough Neagh so dear
In my own dear native home.

Now hence, also long years have passed
And I'll toast that beautiful isle,
That soon and long o'er that land of song
A star of peace may smile
May plenty bloom from the Bann to Toome
And the shamrock verdant grow
Green o'er my grave by Lough Neagh's wave
Near the Old Cross of Ardboe.

-------------------------------------------------------

THE LILY OF LOUGH NEAGH
by Moses Teggart, Poet of the Boglands
Springfield Mass. Oct. 1898

Do I remember Daisy Tennyson?
Well! To be sure, I do!
Her hair was black as the clouds of night,
Her eyes as heaven blue.
Her sweet face was the envy
Of all the Milltown girls,
And when she laughed - then, you could see
Her mouth was full of pearls.
A dear light-hearted Daisy
In kirtle green and gray;
The colleen they were wont to call
The Lily of Lough Neagh.

Her dad in Californy
Had dug so hard for gold,
When he came home he had as much
As Daisy's lap would hold.
Rich enough for a princess,
She might have wed an Earl,
But Daisy loved a fish-lad,
And he adored the girl.
On Lough neagh's banks at sunset
Oft would these lovers stray -
Soft kisses were the dews that fed
The Lily of Lough Neagh.

No useless shoes or stockings
Would lovely Daisy wear,
Her feet were white as buttermilk,
Her shapely ankles bare.
Her namesakes in the dewy grass
And on the rampers brown,
Outdone by Daisy's soft white feet,
Their rosy heads hung down.
But like herself in snowy white -
On Daisy's weddin' day
They bloomed and blushed wherever went
The Lily of Lough Neagh.

Do I remember Daisy Tennyson?
Indeed, indeed I do!
Her hair was black as the clouds of night,
Her eyes as heaven blue.
A daughter of Hibernia,
Sweet lass! I see her still, -
No purtier colleen ever walked
The wilds of Columbkill.
If in them parts you ever meet
A grand old man and gray,
Just ask him if he ever knew
The Lily of Lough Neagh

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries
From: Áine
Date: 16 Oct 02 - 09:58 PM

I found a website called Free Lough Neagh -- They don't have much on it yet; however, there is a Guestbook where you can leave a message of support.

-- Áine

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries
From: Amos
Date: 16 Oct 02 - 08:28 PM

Jesus!! You'd think these ()&(^*&5s would find their way at least into the Twentieth Century, even if the 21st is a bit too steep for 'em!!   Feudalism for fun and profit -- you too can be an Overpriveleged Wank!! Try it!!

A

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries
From: InOBU
Date: 16 Oct 02 - 08:00 PM

Lough Neagh, the largest lake in Ireland, is called officially The Shaftesbury Estate of LOUGH NEAGH and is so registered in the Company Registry in Belfast . The name of the Absentee English Landlord is Earl Shaftesbury of Dorsetshire in English where he lives in his 100 room House on his 9,000 acres Estate. The Lough Neagh Fishermen, indigenous native Irish fisher people have fished these waters as long as there have been people in Ireland. Today, they have to pay rent - royalties, for Shaftesbury's permission to fish harvest in the Lough by the power of his families Royal Charter from the year 1661. The Fisher People are NOT happy with this Feudal Servitude so are now Aspiring to the return of their forefathers Collective Fishing Rights. Further, under local management of the Lough, fish thrived. Today the Lough is over fished, and sustainable management depends on the recognition of the love of the Lough closely tied to ancient tradition which is contained in the concept of Collective Fishing Rights, by the Indigenous population.
This note is submitted by Larry Otway, from notes provided by the Fishers of Lough Neah, Ireland. For contact information, please feel free to respond to me at [e-mail].

Subject: RE: Toome Eel Fisheries
From: InOBU
Date: 16 Oct 02 - 03:25 PM

PS THe tune to the above, is Star of the COunty Down... Larry

Subject: Lyr Add: THE GREAT EEL ROBBERY
From: InOBU
Date: 16 Oct 02 - 03:24 PM

Here is a wee song. I recieved a phone call from Tyrone, not fifteen minutes ago, from a fisherman, this problem is still on, so, let's start with the song... soon, I hope we can put our heads together to come up with a plan for fishing rights for the indigionous fishers of the lough... Your pal, Larry


THE GREAT EEL ROBBERY

Come all you gallant Ulstermen
And listen what I say
I was a hardworking fisherman
From the shores of sweet Lough Neagh
My father fished the deep at Doss
And knew its rocky shores,
But I have lost my livelihood
And cannot fish no more.

The cruel decision the judges made
In Belfast town one day,
Caused woe and misery for the fishers
Of Lough Neagh
The decision that those judges made
Our fishing then was doomed,
When they found in favor of the men
From the fisheries at Toome.

Now we contend King Charles gave away
What was not his very own,
A gift that scheming lawyers traced
To the fishery at Toome.
They've stolen away what should belong
To each and every man,
And for our fate cruel England's law
Well, she does not give one damn.

They called our fishing poaching
And they held us up to scorn,
Even though it was a heritage
To which we all were born,
The waters of Lough Neagh we fished
As our fathers did before,
But because of the Toome Eel Fishery
We cannot fish no more.

For they have a great monopoly
That stretches Europe round,
From the Baltic, Scandinavia,
Even to our own Lough Erne,
They now control the markets and
The prices that you pay,
For nature's bounteous harvest
Of our inland sea, Lough Neagh.

But though we've had a setback
The decision we'll reverse,
For Irishmen they must possess
What is given them by birth,
We'll smash that great monopoly
On Lough Neagh's rocky shore,
And Irishmen will gain their right
To fish there evermore.

        Men of No Property, This is Free
        Belfast: Irish Rebel Songs of the Six
        Counties, New York: Paredon Records,
        1971. (P1006)