JOURNAL OF THE IRISH LABOUR HISTORY SOCIETY

A PASSAGE TO BRITAIN 25only in the 1890s, when the Congested Districts Board helped to open the region with a rail and roadnetwork, that the passage east made migration an option in the coastal areas. It is ironic that while thisbody improved acceSs to these remote regions with a view to establishing industries and developingtourism, the effect was to accelerate the number of migrants leaving. Also of note is the co-relationshipbetween regional subsistence crises and migration, such as occurred in Erris and Belmullet during thepotato failures of the 1890s. The failure of the potato had the inevitable effect of a dramatic increasein migration, being the only alternative to famine.Officially, most migrants were classified as landless agricultural labourers for statistical purposes.In 1880, sixty-three per cent were returned as having :no land. This classification is, however,misleading and fails to highlight the importance of the whole family in the process. Many of th~ landlessmigrants were the relati ves oflandowning farmers, as was the case with Achill and Inishowen migrants,and they were supplementing the family income in both the payment of rent and warding off famine.This analysis supports Charles Trevelyn' s view, when he stated in the House of Commons in 1883:' ... the proportion of migratory agricultural labourers from a district is the proof of the poverty of thedistrict, and the inability of the holdings ... to support the people.' 10The most noticeable feature of the composition of migration from the west of Ireland was the.proportion of landowners who held under thirty acres, a further testimony to the unviable structure ofholdings in the region. These accounted for about forty per cent of Mayo migrants and thirty per centfrom the three other counties. In the 1880s a twenty acre holding was needed to support the averagefamily, with much larger holdings needed in western regions. It would have been difficult, if notimpossible, for tenant farmers in Swinford, Newport and Castlebar to exist on the average holding, apoint demonstrated by the number of farmers, as well as landless labourers, who were dependent onmigrant remittances. While a farmer was regarded as a person who was totally dependent on theproduce of his holding for a livelihood, it is clear that not many west ofIreland farmers accorded withthis classification. As the rent was paid from earnings from external seasonal migration, rentreductions, whether accorded judicially or voluntarily, meant little to these tenants, as demonstrated onthe Taaffe Estate in Mayo and Gal way. The poverty of the land rendered it impossible to remain totallydependent on its produce.The social impact of seasonal migration could be severe in the poorer districts. In 1880, migrantsacounted for 91.6 per thousand of the population in Swinford Poor Law Union, whilst the figure inClaremorris was 57 and in Dunfanaghy 51.4 per thousand. It is generally accepted that the estimate ofmigrants is conservative. 6 Grada has suggested that official figures accounted for only sixty per centof the totalY As the Registrar-General 's returns relied exclusively on data from the railway companies,and in particular on details of those availing of the special fourth class passage, and were compiled ata time when all migrants had not departed, they fail to consider the large numbers who made alternativearrangements. There are cases where the Registrar-General's returns are totally inaccurate, and nonemore so than in the case of the Newport Union. Migrant numbers from the whole of Ireland reachedpeak levels in 1881 for the period of the returns. Yet only 554 migrants are recorded as having leftNewport and of these only five went to Scotland. According to contemporary writers like MichaelDavitt, and witnesses to the Bessborough Commission, close to one thousand migrants actuallydeparted from Achill to Scotland. Consequently it would appear that even 6 Grada's estimates are toolow.Seasonal migration was crucial in the survival of many communities throughout the region. Using6 Grada's adjustment factor of sixty percent, migrants from Swinford would have numbered 152.6 perthousand of the population, 95 for Claremorris and 86.1 for Dunfanaghy in 1881. When spouses anddependents are taken into consideration the extent to which seasonal migration contributed to theupkeep of whole communities becomes clear. Up to three-quarters of S winford' s population dependedheavily on these remittances, whilst the figures lie close to one-half in the other two unions. This doesnot allow for those who benefited indirectly from the wages of seasonal migrants, such as landlords,