Lobster fishing is most common in this district. Lobster pots, spears and even gaffs are used. Sometimes the lobster makes his bed in a deep hole so that the fisherman fails to get near him. He must then get a crab and break it, put it on the "gaff" and prod him. This is called "beating the lobster".
"How to make a lobster pot"
There are four pieces of boards nailed together, so as to form a square. Some short pieces of boards are then nailed slantingly at an equal distance apart. A kind of string is placed from one board to another. A piece of dead lobster is tied inside to as to attract any fish. At the top of the pot the net is laced so as to allow the fisherman to put in his hand and take out the catch.

Tady Kilrehil of Dromore was a great lobster-fisher. He used to get up early and be below at the sea before daybreak. He used to bring a bar of iron with him. He took off his shoes and trousers and went out in the water. He knew where there was a lobster-bed. He poked the bed with the iron and the lobster stuck to it with his claws. When Tady found it on the iron he took it up and killed the lobster. He often killed twenty lobsters at a time.

The people around these coasts didn't know anything about lobster-fishing long ago. One time there was an English boat fishing off the Kerry coast - lobster fishing. There were two Kerry-men out in their own boat and they chanced to come across the cork of the lobster-pot. So they hauled up the pot and good enough there was a lobster in it. They looked at him and when they saw the shape of him and he clapping his tail and the claws one of them shouted to the other to throw the whole thing away from him, that the Englishman had the devil inside in the basket. They threw him out and the two of them made for the shore as quickly as they were able.

Lobster-Fishing in Iorrus. Lobster-fishing is carried on in Iorrus in the summer and in the autumn. It is a very profitable business because sixpence per pound is got for them.
Lobsters are caught in lobster-pots. These pots are made from rods and a flat board. It would remind you of a big cage. A bait is hung from the roof of the pot in the inside. The lobster comes crawling around and crawls in the trap-door at the side of the pot. It tries to get at the bait and falls to the bottom of the pot and is trapped.
A big long rope is stretched across the bay and is tied to buoys or floats to keep it from sinking. The pots are left hanging from the rope into the sea. Each evening the owner goes out in his

Lobster PotsThe making of lobster pots is a

very old Irish industry. We could not go back to the days when lobster pots were first made. They are still made in our own village, Crookhaven. First the twigs are planted or perhaps they grow wild in wet places. Then they are cut down and made into bundles and are drawn home. Then a stand made of timber with holes in it is put on a barrel and the twigs are put in the holes and are worked in and out until the lobster pot is completed.

Many years ago Siobhain Cuimín lived in a little cottage facing Lobster Quay. Her husband was a lobster fisherman. She had a little baby boy 10 months old.
One day as she was going to Camogue for a jug of water, she left her baby asleep in the cradle by the fire. As she was coming back she

Lobster fishing was on industry carried on in this district some time ago. The lobster creels were made from a few pieces of light timber, a few coarse rods and a piece of strong net.The boards were made like a small page for the bottom. Then there were eight holes put in this and the rods were put in in the shape of a half circle. When this was doen the net was spread over it and fastened strongly. Then there was a little net like a cage inside and a piee of an eel or some other fish put into it.The creel was set under the water and for this purpose a fairly have weight was required. When the lobster came into the creel it could not get at the bait so this caused more than one to be caught with the same bait.My uncle Philip Langan who died on the 2nd October 1934 at the age of forty-nine was an expert at making creels. He lived in the townland of Drumlongfield in the parish of Drumholm and in Co. Donegal

Paddy Wheel Abouts Bed.
Joany's Garden had formerly a considerable number of cabins occupied by a class distinct from the World's End fishermen. They were settlers from the adjoining rural district -"mostly from over the water" these were lobster fishermen - hence the name Lobster Quay.
The name was uttered in a tone of contempt by the deep sea fishermen as well as by many residents of other parts of the town evidently because the lobster men were an ignorant? impoverished Irish class.
Previous to the construction of the highway officially known as Bandon New Road and the erection of quays the boats were in stormy weather hauled up on the banks. The extension of the new road as far as the Gully Bridge opened up a new country to the people of the World's End. It is told that some fishermen while taking a Sunday evening ramble in the neighbourhood of Tig Sachsan met a few country boys who were hunting. A stare startled by the boys bounded towards the fishermen, scattering them in all directions.
"Fore me God, look at the great fox" they cried in alarm

from the shore in order to obtain lime. They gather these shells and burn them in the same way as the lime stone. The lime of shells is quite good for white washing.
The wearing of wool. The men that wove the wool in olden times were Mac Larkie, Mc Laughlin and Brennan all of whom lived in Belure. First of all they put yarn in looms, then they got a shuttle and they threw it back and forward. When it was finished they took it out and thickened it with soap. They had a big box for the purpose and two men sat, one at each end and kicked and danced on the flannel until it was quite thick with the soap and hot water.
The fishing in this district. The lobster-pots were made from fine rods. They put a hole on the top and fixed it so that when a lobster went in he could not get out. They set these pots round rocks at night. The fisher-men had a store box anchored in the salt water. They then sent the lobsters to other countries. The nets used by fishermen in Mossy Glen were dyed with oak bark. They had a wooden bottom and the rods were put standing on the wooden bottom in a half circular shape. They were then covered with nets and from hemp twine cord was made. The pots were generally baited with fish or crabs or salted mackerel and the hole for the lobster to go in was on the top. The fishermen caught various fish in these pots.
The making of candles. The following is the

Lobster Fishing at the Bull RockA few years ago a boat from Dursey went up to the Bull Rock lobster fishing. It was a great place for lobsters and when ever they would get any calm weather they used make a run up, but you would have to make sure of the weather before venturing so far from home. At any rate this crew thought they were in for a spell of fine weather so they set out with their pots. They brought grub enough for three or four days with them to make the trip worth while.All went well for the first day’s fishing, but on the following evening the sky darkened and it hardened

Lobster Pots
The bottom is first made which consists of about five staves of wood, each about 5 x 11 inches wide, they are placed about 1 1/2 ins apart to allow water to pass freely through them. Next comes the powels which are of ash, and 1 1/2 inches in diameter. In length they are three feet. A hole is then bored in each side of each end, and a hole in each side of the centre. The powels are then bent across them to form arches. There are also three horizontal pieces of 1 1/2 diameter placed one on top and one on each side which help to keep the net in place. Now in each side at opposite ends a square is left bare so that the throats can be put in. The throats are made of a heavy wire ring, which is about 8 or 9 ins. in diameter, and the net is made in the shape of the ring, and attached to the pot in such a way that when the lobster goes he can't possible get out. There is a throat in each end at opposite sides. The pot is kept balanced by a stone in each end

The methods by which the fish were caught in olden times were by long lines and every line had one hundred and sixty hooks. One man used to shoot them out and stretch them all in a line with buoys at each end and leave them there for two or three hours. The chief kinds of fish that were caught in this way were ling, haddock and cod. Pollock and whiting were caught by hand lines and mackerel and herrings were caught by nets. Lobster were caught by pots the same way as they are nowadays.

Over fifty years ago fish was very plentiful in Bantry Bay. The most of the families round the coast had boats for fishing. Many people near the coast made their living by fishing. Lobsters, herrings, mackerel, and hake were very plentiful. The districts near the coast were more thickly populated at that time than what they are now.
The lobster fishing was a very important industry at that time. There is a big pond at the bottom of Ardnatrush with a big wall all round it and a narrow entrance to the sea. This is known as the Losters Lobster Pond. It was built by an English gentleman named Captain Chambers. He also built a big house near it. In the summer time when lobsters were plentiful and cheap he bought thousands of them from the local fishermen and placed them in the pond and fed them with coarse fish. At the mouth of the pond near the sea there was a sluice which used to be opened when the tide was coming in to let in fresh water and closed when the tide was going out. When winter came and when lobsters got scarce and dear he used o sell them in England for a big price. In this way he prospered year by year. One night a terrible thunder shower fell. The drain near the pond over flowed its banks and the fresh water went into the pond and killed all the lobsters. Then Captain Chambers became bankrupt and went back to England and the pond and the house are now in ruins.

on the horse's backs before the introduction of cars and the making of roads. The making of Kishes for carrying potatoes, turnips, turf, etc. and the manufacture of "Skihoges" flat shield shaped vessels of wicker work is still carried on, so too is the making of wicker traps for catching lobsters; these are known as lobster pots.

Some years ago there were two crews potting (lobster fishing) from Tigh-Lice-Finne. One of them was made up of Learys, and Peats Mór was one of the other crew. The Learys stayed out all night, but Peats Mór's crew came home after hauling the pots and they were to go away about two or three o'clock in the night to haul again.Peats started out before the rest - he had nothing to tell him the time only to guess it as best he could, and he stretched up on a rock below in the cuas of Faill Mhuirinn

One day four men left Dunmanus pier to spend a week away Lobster fishing. They were two Driscolls and two McCarthys. They shot their pots near Dhurode and when they had the work done they put down the anchor and three of them went asleep and one man put a coat over his head in the stern of the boat. He was the watchman and did not go asleep. After a while a man stood up to his waist in the water he was alive and wore a black jersey but he did not speak. The man awakened his companions and when they had all seen him he disappeared. They hauled their pots immediately and made for home. No sooner

Some years ago five men from Hare Island came to Ballydehob to get twigs in the neighbourhood for making lobster pots. It was late in the evening when they started for home. When they were about half ways home a hurricane blew, and their boat capsized, and they were all thrown into the sea. They clung to the over turned boat, and they tried to turn it over again but they failed. Only one of them was able to swim. His name was Cahalane. He told the other men to cling on to the boat, and himself would swim ashore for help. After swimming along time he got to shore, and after climbing some very high cliffs he saw a light at a distance. He came to the house, and he knocked, and it was opened for him, and he was taken in. He told the people of the house what happened. He was not able to go himself as he was tired, and injured from having to climb

and each stone is about 12 lbs weight. The whole pot is covered with strong net. The pots are placed on the bottom of the sea at intervals of about 12 fathoms and each attached to the other by means of small lines. Each lot consists of 12 pots. Each lot is called a raft by local fishermen and the pots have to be baited each time they are hauled. The bait must be tied up inside to make sure that the lobster can't take it away without going inside.

boat and goes from pot to pot examining them. If it needs a new bait he puts in one and if there is any lobsters caught he puts them into a case which is floating in the sea and leaves the pot hanging from the rope and he breaks off the biting toe of each lobster to keep them harming each other. Aodh O Dochartaigh Leitit Rang 8