The surnames on Inishturk are Toole (the most common), Malley, and Faherty.

As will be observed Malley is still the most common surname in Clare Island. In 1821 there were sixty-seven families of that name thereon.

The great majority of the names are those of families or clans anciently belonging to the territory of Hy Fiachrach in which these islands were included.

Barrett and Burke are, of course, Welsh or Anglo-Norman, and date from the thirteenth century.

Two names, Salmon and Winters, appear to be English; but the latter may probably be the Anglicised form of some Irish name which I have not been able to trace.

1 The names marked thus, are common in Inishbofin, and probably came from there, Scuffle certainly did so.

2 Gallagher is one of the Ulster names which came into this part of Connaught in the 17th century.

The following list gives the surnames which appear to have been in the district anciently, most of them are considerably altered, and are given in both their ancient and their modern forms.

1. Occupations. Though living on islands, but few of the men are fishermen by occupation, and those few sell the fish to the others. All are farmers to a greater or less extent, and some few have hardly ever been out of the islands.

The farms or holdings are of very small size, but have (or had, for the state of things described here is now a matter of history) unlimited right of grazing over the greater part of the islands.

The methods of farming are of the most primitive description, and no attempts at improvement seem ever to have been made until the Congested Districts Board took over Clare Island. The holdings were not properly fenced, many of them having their boundaries only indicated by land-marks. As soon as the crops were removed the land all became a common, and remained so during the winter; while the crops were down the sheep and cattle of the neighbours had to be kept away from them by some of the family being constantly on the watch with dogs to drive them away, and send them back to the mountain grazing again. There was thus no inducement to improve, as whatever change for the better was made was sure to be undone again. Another obstacle to improvement was the system of co-tenancy in which families had only a part share in a farm. The right of grazing on the mountains (two-thirds of the area of the islands) was unlimited, the result of which was that a man paying a very small rent might

really be a richer man and larger cattle holder than one paying a larger rental.

There are no ploughs or harrows on the islands, all the tillage being spade work. The manures consist of seaweed and farm-yard manure.

An average family has a couple of pigs, a cow or two, a number of fowl, geese, or ducks, and a donkey, or horse; most families keep a brood mare. The fuel used is turf, much of it "scraw turf raised off the surface of the land which has been completely ruined in some places by this custom. There are no regular bogs, but in some of the hollows among the hills there are small areas in which the peat is from two to four feet in depth. A good deal of kelp is made, for which the people get about £4 per ton. Other occupations are few; there are very few tradesmen on the islands; two weavers make a little frieze and coarse flannel for use on the islands; the other tradesmen are one blacksmith, one carpenter, and two sawyers.

The women attend to the ordinary household work, cooking, spinning, carding, &c.; they also rear fowls and geese which they sell at Westport, and export eggs in considerable quantities. The fish caught is eaten fresh in summer, and salted roughly and dried in the sun on roofs and walls for winter use.

2. Family Life and Customs.-The general characters of family life are much the same as those of the other islands (Bofin and Shark) to the south of them, and the description of the life there practically answers for Clare Island and Inishturk also.

Marriages are not a matter of romance as a rule, but are arranged by the parents and relatives of the young people. Some of the wedding customs are curious; the night before a wedding the bridegroom and friends go to the bride's father's house; when they arrive, four bottles are placed on the table, one at each corner, and the parties are treated by some responsible person at each corner. Feasting and storytelling are kept up until morning when all go to the chapel together for the ceremony; after which the bride is taken to the husband's house where feasting is kept up as before the next night.

On the occasion of a death, windows and doors are opened, and it is not considered right for any one to weep until the death actually occurs. Wakes are still held, but they are shorn of many of their old observances. As in Bofin and elsewhere, the grave is not dug until the coffin reaches the graveyard. Two funerals starting together, if there should be such an occurrence as two on the same day, would have a race for the cemetery, for the belief still lingers that the spirit of the person last buried has to sit and watch until the next funeral.

Unbaptized infants are buried in killeens or burial grounds by themselves.

The funeral customs are the same as described in Bofin except that the belief about the ill luck in giving the wood out of the house for the coffin does not prevail here. Tobacco is served out to those present at a funeral, and the unused pipes are placed on the grave as in Ballycroy.

3. Food. The people take three meals in the day; many families take strong tea at each; the dietary consists of tea, flour-bread, potatoes, eggs, and fish (fresh or salted according to season). Indian meal stirabout is eaten when the potatoes are exhausted.

Clothing. The work-day clothing is mostly home-spun; stockings and flannels are all home manufacture, and of rather course quality, Some native dyes such as lichen and purple loose-strife are in use occasionally. The men are clothed very thickly, wearing layer upon layer of thick heavy homespun flannel, which makes them appear much stouter than they really are.

Most of the women's clothing, and the men's best attire, is imported.

Dwellings.-The houses are much the same as those of Inishbofin, but poorer, usually containing only two apartments, the kitchen and the room. Owing to the absence of lime on the islands, the houses are built of dry stone, and plastered inside; many are now being whitewashed. Many of these houses are very old; I have been in one stated by the inhabitants to be over two hundred years standing. The houses are thatched with sougan thatch over scraws as described in the report on Bofin.

The end of the kitchen farthest from the fire is used as in the other islands as a sort of pen for cattle and pigs at night; it is paved, and has a small channel running out to drain away moisture, At the time of my visit there were only five or six houses on Clare Island, into which the cattle and pigs were not taken every night. The general style of the interior is the same as that of the houses in Bofin or Ballycroy, except that, in one wall of the kitchen there is a recess called the cailliogh, which contains a bed which can be curtained off from the room. The furniture is scanty, consisting in the kitchen of a table or two, a few stools, a dresser, covered with coarse earthenware, a bench, and a spinning-wheel.

Above the "couples" at the stable end of the kitchen is a sort of loft in which implements, dried fish, &c., are stored. The domestic utensils are the usual three-legged pot, a griddle, a big chest, some

piggins, or wooden vessels (now being replaced in Clare Island by imported articles), a boran, spinning-wheel, &c.

The "room" is sometimes boarded, and is scantily furnished, a couple of tent beds and chair or two, a chest, a table, a couple of cheap religious pictures (perhaps), and an article of furniture known as the milk chest: it is mounted on four legs, and has a tightly fitting lid. It is used for containing the milk vessels. The sanitary condition of the houses is bad, owing to the absence of proper ventilation, the presence of the cattle and fowl in the houses at night, and the proximity (frequently) of stagnant pools and muck heaps to the doors of the dwellings.

Transport.-The modes of transport on land are very simple, the only two methods of conveying turf, sea weed, fish, or potatoes, being in baskets on the backs of the people themselves, or in panniers slung over the back of a horse or donkey. Stones for building are carried in rough wooden frames of a V-shape known as stone-cleaves.

There are about eighty horses on Clare Island; the number in Inishturk could not be ascertained.

The roads are pretty good, considering that there is no wheel traffic over them.

For conveyance by water as well as for fishing there are boats, twenty-seven of which are sometimes used for fishing; five of these are pookhauns, two hookers, one of which belongs to Inishturk; there are about a dozen curraghs.

V.-FOLK-LORE.

Considerable difficulty was experienced in obtaining much information on the many curious and interesting beliefs and customs still persisting in these islands, but the following items were collected, thanks mainly to Mrs. C. Kelly, Sergeant M'Golderic, R.I.C., and Mr. Edward O'Malley, of Clare Island. Some other information was gathered from the people of Inishturk. The information which I was able to obtain relates mainly to minor folk-lore.

1. Customs and Beliefs.-Reference has already been made to funeral and wedding customs. There are customs and beliefs relating to certain days, most of which are the same as those observed and reported on in Inishbofin, &c. The people will not give fire out of the house on May Day lest all good luck might go with it. On St. John's Eve bonfires are lighted, round which the people circle seven times in the name of the Trinity, bowing towards the fire each time.