Fishermen to research history of Greencastle fleet
Greencastle is an important fishing port with a rich history.
A team of retired fishermen has begun work on creating a history of the boats that have fished out of Greencastle over the years.
The group will operate out of the Inishowen Maritime Museum and will eventually work with museum staff to create a new digital archive of information on local vessels.
The project – entitled ‘Croi na Farraige’ or ‘Heart of the Sea’ – will also record the reminiscences of those involved in seafaring and fishing in Inishowen.
A lot of interviews were already filmed in the Maritime Museum and this prompted the museum to re-start a previous fishing fleet project.
“The idea is that this time, it would still be about fishing boats, but carried out by fishermen themselves,” a spokesperson explained.
The original idea had a more sociable aspect, with groups of retired fishermen calling into the museum at specific times for a cup of tea and a chat.
It was hoped that this would have sparked memories and information off each other, which could have been collated and preserved by the museum.
Unfortunately, covid-19 restrictions caused this social aspect of the project to be paused, but team leader, Gerry Gill, is now working with a smaller team – Brendan Gill, Jim Cavanagh and Brian McDonald – to create a list of boats that fished out of the port.
This can all be done from their individual homes, with no risk from covid. The list will then become the focal point for a more open project as soon as control of the pandemic allows.
The three fishermen have over 150 years of fishing experience between them and the McDonald family has been building fishing boats since 1750.
