Exploring the Links between Communality, the Metabolic Relationship, and Ecological Sustainability: A Case Study of a North-West of Ireland Community (c. 1930s-50s) Clodagh O’ Malley Gannon, B.A., M.A. Presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Sociology Faculty of Social Science Submitted May 2015 Head of Department: Prof. Mary Corcoran Supervisor: Dr. Eamonn Slater Second Reader: Dr. Peter Murray TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Table of Contents i Dedication xii Acknowledgements xiii Abstract xv Section 1: Research Aims, Approach, Logic of Presentation, and Review of Environmental Sociology Literature and Theory 1 Chapter One Introduction 2 (1.1) Introduction 2 (1.2) A Focus on Processes 7 (1.3) The Sections/Chapters as They Fit Together 12 Chapter Two Nature, Sociology, & This Study 26 (2.1) Introduction 26 (2.2) Sociological Human-Exemptionalism Historically and Today 28 (2.3) Nature as a Causal Variable 31 (2.4) Ecosystems and Agro-ecosystems 34 (2.5) Socio-ecological Theory 39 (2.6) The Labour Process 47 (2.7) Conclusion 49 Section 2: Methodology 52 Chapter Three Methodology 53 (3.1) Introduction 53 (3.2) A Complex Research Framework for a Complex Research Question 53 (3.3) Ontology and Epistemology 58 (3.4) A Complex Methodological Approach for a Complex Analysis 61 (3.5) Mixed Data Collection Methods 67 (3.6) Sampling 77 (3.7) Analysis and Presentation of Data 79 (3.8) Conclusion 85 i Section 3: Property Systems 88 Chapter Four Primitive Communal Production: Property Relationships 89 (4.1) Introduction 89 (4.2) Mode of Production 90 (4.3) Primitive Communal Mode of Production 93 (4.4) The Russian Agricultural Commune 95 (4.5) Rundale 99 (4.6) Redistribution of Arable Land and Regulation of Agricultural Practices 104 (4.7) Consolidation 107 (4.8) Enclosure 111 (4.9) Conclusion 115 Chapter Five Property Relationships in North-West Mayo 117 (5.1) Introduction 117 (5.2) Rundale in the Area 117 (5.3) The Irish Land Commission: Consolidation and Enlargement 123 (5.4) The Irish Land Commission: Enclosure 129 (5.5) Communal Work Patterns 135 (5.6) Conclusion 140 Section 4: Economic System s 143 Chapter Six Primitive Communal Production: Production Relationships 144 (6.1) Introduction 144 (6.2) Morality, Action, and Regulation in the Context of the Russian Commune 145 (6.3) Morality, Action, and Regulation in the Context of Rundale 148 (6.4) Cooring in Rural Ireland c. 1930s-50s 154 (6.5) Social Mechanisms Underpinning Cooring 156 (6.6) Cooring and Agricultural Development 158 (6.7) Rundale in Luogh?: An Ongoing Discussion and Arensberg and Kimball’s Work 164 (6.8) Conclusion 166 Chapter Seven Production Relationships in North-West Mayo 168 (7.1) Introduction 168 (7.2) Individualised Labour 168 (7.3) Collective Labour 170 (7.4) Giving Gifts, Goods, and, Services Encouraged Reciprocity within Production Relations 179 (7.5) Visiting as a Social Mechanism Underpinning Cooring Relationships 188 (7.6) Commonage Practices that Supported Co-operation and Communality within Labour 193 (7.7) Conclusion 198 ii Section 5: Productive & Spatial Systems 201 Chapter Eight Beyond a Restrictive Farm Model: Commonage & Issues of Agriculture, Petty Commodity Production, & Sustainability 202 (8.1) Introduction 202 (8.2) Agriculture and Subsistence 203 (8.3) Petty Commodity Production and Wage Labour 208 (8.4) Commercialisation and Commoditisation 211 (8.5) Commonage Not Only a Supplement to the “Rest of the Farm” but Integral to the Farm 217 (8.6) Conclusion 226 Chapter Nine Agriculture & Other Forces Underpinning Production in North-West Mayo 230 (9.1) Introduction 230 (9.2) Agriculture and the Production of Use Value Products 231 (9.3) The Creation of Use Value Products within Non-agricultural Forms of Production 235 (9.4) Money for Goods, Services, and Other Expenses 241 (9.5) The Production of Exchange Value Goods 248 (9.6) Wage Labour and State Financial Support 254 (9.7) Conclusion 262 Chapter Ten Commonage as an Integral Part of Production in North-West Mayo 264 (10.1) Introduction 264 (10.2) Commonage and the Production of Productive Agricultural Space 264 (10.3) Commonage and Agricultural Productivity Over Time 269 (10.4) Commonage and Various Forms of Production 274 (10.5) Commonage and Communality 281 (10.6) Conclusion 287 Section 6: Ecological Systems 289 Chapter Eleven Socio-ecological Interaction within Agriculture 290 (11.1) Introduction 290 (11.2) Soil Content: Beyond a Dominant Focus on Nitrogen Only 292 (11.3) Soil: Beyond a Dominant Focus on Soil Chemistry Only 296 (11.4) Weather and Topography 301 (11.5) Conclusion 309 Chapter Twelve Local Issues Affecting Soil Productivity in North-West Mayo 312 (12.1) Introduction 312 (12.2) Incorporating Nitrogen and Other Nutrients 313 iii (12.3) Soil Type, Soil Structure, Soil Organisms, and Soil Depth 318 (12.4) Ridges and Furrows 328 (12.5) Fertilising 333 (12.6) Conclusion 336 Chapter Thirteen Livestock & Socio-ecological Interactions within Agriculture 340 (13.1) Introduction 340 (13.2) The Moments Involved in Safeguarding Livestock Manure for Fertiliser 342 (13.3) Livestock and Other Ways They Affected the Metabolic Relationship within Crop Production 352 (13.4) Conclusion 361 Chapter Fourteen Livestock: Their Role in the Metabolic Relationship & the Local Issues that Could Affect How Well They Contributed to Crop Productivity in North-West Mayo 364 (14.1) Introduction 364 (14.2) Safeguarding Fodder Nutrients Against Weather 366 (14.3) Issues of Shelter 375 (14.4) Livestock Activity and the Metabolic Relationship 387 (14.5) Conclusion 392 Section 7: Knowledge Systems 396 Chapter Fifteen Ways of Knowing & Their Impact on Nature-Society Interaction within Agriculture 397 (15.1) Introduction 397 (15.2) Western Science and Traditional Ecological Knowledge 399 (15.3) TEK: Sustainable Practices and the Social Mechanisms that Lie Behind Them 403 (15.4) Folklore 409 (15.5) Weather Lore 413 (15.6) Local Place Names 416 (15.7) TEK and Rural Ireland 420 (15.8) Conclusion 422 Chapter Sixteen TEK, Communality, & Sustainability: The Situation in North-West Mayo 425 (16.1) Introduction 425 (16.2) A Literate (?) but Oral Society 426 (16.3) Folklore in North-West Mayo 432 (16.4) Weather Lore and Ritual Efforts to Control Nature 438 (16.5) Local Place Names in North-West Mayo 445 (16.6) Conclusion 473 iv Section 8: Tying it All Together 476 Chapter Seventeen Conclusion 477 (17.1) Introduction 477 (17.2) Property System Level 477 (17.3) Economic System Level 479 (17.4) Non-agricultural Systems of Production Level 484 (17.5) Spatial System Level 487 (17.6) Ecological System Level 490 (17.7) Knowledge System Level 499 (17.8) Conclusion 502 Bibliography 506 Appendix I: Issues of Access to Data 545 Appendix II: Ethical Issues 552 Appendix III: Interviewee Data 554 v Page List of Diagrams Diagram 1. System Levels that Affect the Agricultural Labour Process Under a Rundale Production System 55 Diagram 2. Cross System Relationships of Systems as They Might Interact at the Level of Relationships to Drive the Agricultural Production Process Associated with a Rundale System of Production in Various Directions 56 Diagram 3. From Systems to Processes to Relationships and Vice Versa and a Mix of Order 56 List of Graphs Graph 1. Percentage Growth in Literacy in the Overall Area from 1901 to 1911 428 List of Maps Map 1. Satellite Map Showing Extent of Marginal Land in the Area 132 Map 2. Local Place Names of Kilgalligan 447 Map 3. Local Place Names of Stonefield 451 Map 4. Local Place Names of Carrowteige 456 Map 5. Local Place Names of Portacloy 459 Map 6. Local Place Names of Curraunboy (and Garter Hill) 462 Map 7. Local Place Names of Rossport 465 vi List of Newspaper Exerts Newspaper Exert 1. Rural Electrification Notice for Knock, County Mayo 173 Newspaper Exert 2. Rural Electrification Notice for Ballycastle, County Mayo 173 Newspaper Exert 3. Carney and Hunt Seed Advertisement, Ballina 184 Newspaper Exert 4. Thos. Archer Seed Advertisement, Ballina 184 Newspaper Exert 5. Promotion of Use of Whole Seed Potatoes by Department of Agriculture 186 Newspaper Exert 6. Notice to Ratepayers from Mayo County Council 245 Newspaper Exert 7. Advertisement for a Local Dance Showing Cost of Admission 247 Newspaper Exert 8. Use of Lime within Agriculture Encouraged by Department of Agriculture 270 Newspaper Exert 9. Manure for Sale on the Market in Ballina 313 Newspaper Exert 10. Chemical Fertiliser for Sale on the Market 313 Newspaper Exert 11. Agricultural Implements and Machinery for Sale from Thomas Archer, Ltd., Ballina 331 Newspaper Exert 12. Agricultural Implements and Tools for Sale from Isaac Beckett, Ltd., Ballina 331 List of Photographs Plate 1. House with Garden/Haggard in Stonefield 119 Plate 2. Undivided Fields 121 Plate 3. Striped Landscape of Kilgalligan 125 Plate 4. Striped Landscape of Rossport 125 Plate 5. Extreme Striping in Carrowteige 128 Plate 6. Unenclosed Mountain Commonage 130 Plate 7. Unenclosed Shoreline Commonage 131 Plate 8. Unenclosed Bog Land Commonage 131 vii Plate 9. Working with Scythes 172 Plate 10. A Meitheal of Adults at Hay 174 Plate 11. A Meitheal of Boys on the Bog 175 Plate 12. A Fishing Crew 176 Plate 13. A Townland Mearing Today 196 Plate 14. A Townland Mearing in Earlier Years 196 Plate 15. Shearing Sheep in Stonefield 238 Plate 16. A Salmon Weighing Scales at Portacloy Pier 248 Plate 17. Fishing as a Group 250 Plate 18. Hand Cut Turf 252 Plate 19. Boats and Curraghs at Rhinroe Pier 259 Plate 20. Expanses of Marginal Land 265 Plate 21. A Lime Kiln 267 Plate 22. Burning Shells in a Hole 267 Plate 23. Marram Grass along the Shore 273 Plate 24. Commonage Verged by Cliffs 274 Plate 25.