A Vegan Goes Fishing

My mother's family lives in Ballina, a town just west of Sligo. My cousin Gerry drove all the way to Shannon to pick me up at the airport. On the way back, I asked about Ireland's economy and education system, the role of the church and the recent sex abuse scandals, and the history of my family. I stayed with my other cousin Padraig, and his wife. After dinner, we went to the Merry Monk for a pint. There were about 5 people in the whole pub, and Padraig knew all of them. I had a pint of Guinness with black currant, in the time my cousin drank about three pints of some other beer.


Thursday, I went for a long walk through the woods near the house. They used to be part of the grounds of a nearby manor/castle (which one depends on who you talk to).


When my cousins got back from work, we all piled into the car to head to Ballyglass, about an hour's drive away, because one of my cousins has a cottage there, next to Broad Haven Bay. They own a little boat, and absolutely love to go fishing. Wanting to be flexible, I went along.

I was there to see the sunset. The water was perfectly calm, and we floated along next to those west Irish cliffs. You could see layers and layers of stone where the ocean is washing it away; there are caves and crags, with birds nesting and maybe even a sheep climbing along the top.

I sat at the end of the boat, avoiding the bloodshed. But I oddly felt comfortable, because we were all faced with a choice to take life: I declined to participate, but even though my cousins were killing fish, at least they knew what they were doing. Many people eat in blindness.

After awhile, it became my job to put the small fish back (I think my cousins were trying to find common ground). As soon as you let the fish go, it darts away, going from stillness to speed is remarkable to watch. I had a bit of trouble picking one up: it was flopping and slipping out of my hands, and by the time I got it, I just sort of flipped it up out of the boat. Endlessly teased by the guys for being cruel to fish...


As we were heading back in, the sun was setting, powerfully red and pink and reflecting along the water. I didn't take a picture, because my cousins were teaching me how to drive the boat.