Heritage

What is worth preserving?

Feeding time: Dexter cattle on their pasture.

Dexter cattle are a so-called heritage breed. In order to keep and breed these, you need governmental support to preserve the genetic diversity. This farmer keeps them for that reason but also because he took a liking to them as they are easy to keep. Dexter are the smallest European cattle breed and originated in southwestern Ireland and are dual-purpose breed, i.e. used for both milk and beef. Their small size made them the ideal breed for the small-scale farmer back in the day.

Frustration expressed by a farmer: "See the old house? I wanted to redo it as a B&B, a holiday home... now there is a grant for traditional farm buildings. I've been there two years ago, done everything and anything. And they turned me down because I didn't have an original photograph of the original roof."

The grant she is referring to was issued in 2006 under the GLAS scheme and is supposed to help farmers to renovate traditional farm buildings on their land.

In the Blackstairs, English is the mothertongue of the locals. Irish is taught in school and there are extra points given if you do your "leaving cert" - the final examinations at school - in this language. Even though it is not spoken by anyone here, every sign still needs to be in Irish as well as English.

The Aran Islands are part of the small area where Irish is actually still spoken as the first language. In school, the lessons are held in Irish, and people speak it on the ferry, the pub and everywhere else. With more people coming in from the mainland and the media, it happens that Irish-speaking parents get a reply from their children in English.

Cutting seaweed: Traditionally, the seaweed was put into baskets that were carried by horses and donkeys up on the island. It was placed onto the fields, a layer of clay and sand from the shore was added, and the seaweed broke down in time, literally creating the very soil that the livestoc grazes on now.

Nowadays, no-one does that anymore. However, people may still put seaweed onto their garden beds to fertilize the soil, and the cosmetics and food industry have also discovered the economic value of it.

The seaweed is placed on rows on the ground where the potatoes will be sown later on.

Digging up the soil: An islander sowing spuds in an old field as a neighbour stops for a chat.