Browne — Etlmogra'phy of the Mullet^ Inishkeay 8f Portachy. 619 



Ireland. Barrett, Burke, Carey, Joyce, M 'Andrew, "Walsh, and pro- 

 bably "Williams (if it be, as is alleged, a form of Mac "William or 

 Mac Quillin). 



(c.) The immigrants from Ulster come next, amongst whose 

 descendants are said to be the O'Donnells, Connells, Doghertys, 

 Gallaghers, Geraghtys, Reillys (from Cavan), and perhaps M'LoughKns. 



(d.) The Mac Cormicks came into the district in the reign of 

 James I. 



(e.) Last come names of English origin, the most ancient of which 

 seems to be Bingham, dating from the reign of Elizabeth. Toilet, and 

 probably Dixon, are names of descendants of the Shane settlers. The 

 other English names are of shorter standing, and some of them may 

 really be anglicised local surnames. 



The names of the English settlers signed to the petition to Sir 

 Henry Bingham, sometime in the reign of Queen Anne, are Higgin- 

 botham. Maxwell, Dennistoun, Linney, Langford, Tollett, Houston, 

 Parker, Gamble, Calwell, and Low ; of these, Tollett is the only one 

 now found in the parish, if Gammeli be not a corrupted form of 

 Gamble.^ 



IV. — Sociology. 



1. Occupations. — Excluding the inhabitants of the little town of 

 BelmuUet, in which most of the tradesmen reside, the people are, as 

 a rule, either fishermen or farmers, or they combine both occupations. 

 There are a few large holders and proprietors, but the majority of the 

 farms are of small size. These holdings are but poorly fenced, a 

 frequent cause of dispute. Fences are usually earthen or turf, but on 

 the islands dry stone walls, such as are seen in Aran, are common. 

 The principal crops are barley, oats, rye, and potatoes. All the farming 

 is rude and primitive. Spade labour is practically universal, the 

 spades being of modern form, as the old " gowel "^ or " gowel-gob," a 

 two-bladed or forked wooden spade formerly used here, has long been 

 extinct. 



In 1834 there were only 3 ploughs and the same number of carts 

 in use in the Mullet : now (1895) the number of ploughs is 30, and of 

 carts 63. 



^ Though these settlers are spoken of as English by the various writers who 

 have mentioned the colony, yet the majority of these surnames appear to be Scotch. 



2 A specimen of this curious agricultural implement is figured in the Catalogue^ 

 of Antiqiiities of the Royal Irish Academy. 



