From the archives: Marauding rabbits and hares played havoc in Mayo

By Tom Gillespie

'RABBITS invade houses - hares eat crops' - that was the startling headline in the June 6, 1953, edition of The Connaught Telegraph, when members of Mayo County Committee of Agriculture met to discuss the allocation of gas guns to control the rabbit menace.

The matter was raised by Mr. Dominick Cafferky, T.D., who said that in Kilkelly, rabbits were actually going into the houses.

Mr. W. McNally told the meeting that the committee had made provision for subsiding 10 guns, and he proposed the number be increased to 20.

The committee chairman, Mr. M.J. McGrath, said rabbits were creating havoc across Mayo.

Mr. Regan asked: Will this scheme be successful?

Mr. McNally: On my land rabbits were as thick as blades of grass. I got a pump and a tin of Cymag for 24/- and after one day there was not a rabbit left, and the oats which was eaten down is now growing again.

“I would like to say that the fears some people have of the gas being dangerous are unfounded. I am sure I swallowed a pound of it and suffered no ill effects.”

The Chief Agriculture Officer (CAO) said there were 60 applicants and the chairman proposed that 30 guns be given to them.

Senator Bernard Commons: Give them 20 this year and 20 more to others next year.

Mr. M.B. Durcan: What is the cost?

CAO: £6, out of which we give £3.

Senator Commons: Should not the committee get the guns at wholesale prices?

CAO: Yes, but would it be advisable for the committee to go into competition with traders?

Senator Commons: But the county council buys through a central purchasing body. The merchants are getting a good cut already.

Mr. Lawrence: The only thing against this is that some merchants might get a stock of the pumps and other people might buy them, which would not happen if we buy them wholesale.

Chairman: Yes, there is a principle involved, too. It is not right that we go into competition with traders.

Mr. Cafferkey: Ask the Department to give an increased supple of cartridges to the holders of limited firearms certificates, and also to reduce the price to all farmers.

He added: “In my own area rabbits would come into the houses they are so bold. There should be a reduction in the price of cartridges as no small farmer can buy them at present.”

Mr. Cassidy: I saw an instructor crying when he saw the damage rabbits had done to a demonstration plot. Mr. P.J. Bourke, Ballycastle, said that there were only three names from his area for the guns, and he asked that two be kept until names came in.

He said: “In my country one cannot see anything like turnips on account of the hares. They are travelling in droves and are outside the houses in the morning until the people have to chase them away with dogs.”

Mr. Durcan: I saw 25 in one flock.

Mr. Cafferkey: Is there any law about poisoning rabbits.

CAO: No, but the usual notices must be given.

Mr. Durcan: If Mr. Cafferkey’s proposition goes through, the hares can be shot.

The meeting increased the number of certificates to be given to 33.

Cyanide gassing powders such as Cymag were a type of pesticide which needed very special care when being handled, transported and stored. They give off hydrogen cyanide gas which is a very quick acting and potentially lethal poison.

MYSTERY BIRD

Meanwhile, in March 1965, readers of The Connaught Telegraph learned that a ‘mystery’ bird, which lived on Tucker’s Lake, outside Castlebar, had everyone puzzled.

For they couldn't make up their minds whether it was a goose, duck, swan - or what?

The bird flew in to the farmyard of Mr. Thomas McHale each day and fed with domestic fowl there.

But each evening it flew back to its lakeside home.

According to the article in the paper, the ‘bird’ had become so friendly with Mr. McHale that it followed him everywhere - but it showed a strong dislike for strangers.

Mr. McHale said: “Everyone is puzzled as to what species it is.”

Garda Michael Tonry commented: “It’s smaller than a goose and bigger than a duck, and I don’t believe it’s either.”

Later it was learned that a bird answering the same description had recently been given to 11-year-old schoolboy, John Joe Kenny, Main Street, Castlebar.

The boy told The Connaught Telegraph that the bird swam down the town river at the back of their home and just disappeared.

While in May 1965, this headline caught my eye: ‘Gunfire shatters a town’s Sundays’. It's something I recalled vividly.

The story read: Bullets never flew as thickly in Dodge City as they do in Castlebar.

And the Wild West citizens were never more on edge than the Co. Mayo townspeople.

Because the Army has a rifle range right in the middle of Castlebar. And the people can’t stand the noise.

Now they are to sign a petition asking the Minister for Defence to stop the Army shattering their Sunday peace.

They complain that:

BABIES cannot sleep;

OLD PEOPLE are unable to rest;

OFF DUTY nurses are kept awake;

SICK PEOPLE are feeling the strain.

Every Sunday and some weekdays recruits of the FCA were putting in target practice with machine guns and rifles.

Councillor William Cresham told the newspaper: “People living a mile away say they can hear the din, and mothers have told me that their babies cannot get any rest during the day.

“There are hundreds of sick people in the town’s three hospitals and they cannot get any rest on Sundays. Neither can the night nurses.

“The noises are so loud that people sometimes think that someone is discharging guns beside them. That has got to stop.”

Two years previously (1963) the Urban Council complained about noise from the range and a ‘ceasefire’ was observed for some time.

Councillor Joe Chambers added: “We got an undertaking from the Department of Defence that the range would be transferred to Galway, 50 miles away.

“But recently target practice started again. There is no place in the town for a rifle range.”

Councillor Sean Horkan said: “The council will certainly back the people in their bid to regain peace and quietness on Sundays.

“The Army might consider using silencers on the rifles for training purposes. If not, they will have to find a firing range in the county.”

An Army spokesman said: “We have been unable to find another site for a rifle range.”