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 Achill Island tattie-hokers and the Kirkintilloch tradegy, 1937
by Brian Coughlan
From the late 19th century to the mid 20th century, it was the custom for the young people of Achill Island to go to work in Scotland during the potato picking season (June to October). The workers were organised into squads, led by one of the older men, and each squad consisted almost entirely of brothers, sisters, cousins and friends from the same village or area in Achill. In 1937 an Achill squad was staying at premises in the town of Kirkintilloch when the accommodation became engulfed in toxic fumes during the night and ten young men died. This study looks at the practice of 'tattie-hoking' and at the Kirkintilloch tragedy, using historical research alongside oral testimony from several islanders.
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Index of Contents:
- Introduction
- 1. Achill by the 1930s
- 2. The tattie-hokers
- 3. The Kirkintilloch fire
- 4. Unanswered questions?
- 5. Political repurcussions
- 6. The decline of the tattie-hokers
- Conclusion
From the Introduction:
"Prior to the Great Famine (1845 to 1851) Achill islanders existed entirely from the land. These pre-Famine clachan communities were a self-sufficient, self-sustaining people where their traditional agricultural customs prevailed until the mid-19th century. However, the Famine enforced major socio-economic changes upon the clachan communities. The most notable change involved the gradual abandonment of many of the island's inland settlements by their inhabitants. Entire villages were subsequently re-located to the island's coastal regions. ... This internal migration ultimately led to the decline of one of the island's most prominent pre-Famine customs. 'Buaile' of booley was a transhumance custom where cattle and other livestock were moved to temporary coastal settlements during the summer months along with some of the inhabitants from within the main settlement. However, following the Famine, many of the island's clachan communities chose their former temporary booley coastal settlements as their new permanent location in order to avail of fish as an additional foodstuff. ... The decline of the practice of 'buaile' meant that the islanders could no longer sustain a complete existence from the land."
The island's new post-Famine agricultural communities now required a new form of cash income. These islanders adopted seasonal migration to Scotland as a solution to their economic needs. ... During the annual potato-picking harvest season (June to October), the male or head of each migrant household would travel independently to work on either the agricultural fields of Scotland or England. Each migrant household's young single male or female migrant worker[s], whose ages ranged from 13 to 23, would also travel to the potato harvest fields of Scotland under a group or squad system. ... Each squad contained between 20 and 30 people and consisted almost entirely of brothers, sisters, cousins and friends. Members of the squad predominantly came either from within the gaffers' own Achill community or from within the neighbouring townlands."
"Despite the upheaval from their island households, many of these young migrant workers in fact considered Scotland to be a 'home from home' during the harvest season because of the neighbourly nature of the Achill squad structure. A Scottish phrase, 'tattie-hoker', became the common term for these young migrant seasonal agricultural workers."
One such Achill squad arrived at a farm in Kirkintilloch, Dumbartonshire, Scotland on 15th September 1937. ... Tragically, ten male members of this tattie-hoking squad died after toxic fumes had engulfed their sleeping premises in the early hours of Thursday, 16th September 1937."
"This study describes how the tradegy impacted upon Achll islanders in 1937. As well as the tradegy itself, both the socio-economic structure of Achill's migrant households, the life and experiences of an early 20th century tattie-hoker, and the numerous ongoing controversies that surround the possible causes of the bothy fire are analysed. Finally, this study questions whether the tradegy at Kirkintilloch in 1937 proved to be a catalyst for change for the local migrant communities of Achill. Was this tragic event a 20th-century social watershed for Achill's migrant households, similar to the impact that the Famine had upon the island's clachan village's in the 1840s, where this horrific event enforced the islanders to abandon the practice of seasonal migration to Scotland?"
Price: €9.95 plus P&P
Alternatively, you may Order by Post and pay by cheque (euro only).
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