Abstract
MR. ARTHUR E. J. WENT (Proc. Roy. Irish Acad., 48, Sect. C, No. 5 ; August, 1942) has made a considerable research into the ownership of the Galway fishery, which he traces from the thirteenth century to the present day. The paper deals only with the fishery of the River Corrib, usually known as the Galway fishery. Galway was formerly also the seat of a very valuable sea fishery. The unique sight, during the runs of salmon, of multitudes of these fish, below the Gaol Bridge in the town of Galway, waiting to ascend the regulation weir some two hundred yards upstream, makes this fishery of special interest, but it is only in comparatively modern times that it has been observed. Alteration in the bed of the river and construction in connexion with the utilization of water-power in the town have produced just the conditions necessary to hold fish in this region until such times as there is a sufficiency of water flowing over the weir to entice fish to make the passage up the fish pass. The interesting fact that a certain type of stone implement has been found along the banks of the river shows' that the fishery was important even in pre-history times. So far back as the reign of Edward I there is mention of the fishery in the records and the ownership has changed hands many times. It is mainly a salmon fishery, but there are also eels and other fish. A further paper will shortly be published, which will deal with the methods of fishing.
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History of the Galway Fishery. Nature 150, 572 (1942). https://doi.org/10.1038/150572a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/150572a0