Importance of rabbit industry to Sligo detailed in new book
COUNTY Sligo features heavily in a new book about the rabbit industry in Ireland.
‘ The Rabbit Industry in Ireland, 20th Century Snapshots’ by Michael Conry, details the importance of rabbits to industry in the 20th century with millions of rabbits exported to Britain during the two great wars when Britain was on the verge of starvation.
Coney Island, which means ‘ Island of Rabbits’ is believed to be named so due to the huge number of rabbits on the island.
The history of rabbits on the island is featured in great detail in Conry’s new book, which is the Roscommon native’s tenth book.
“It is worth recording that when the Great Famine decimated the Irish population through starvation, starvation- related diseases and emigration, the inhabitants of Coney Island were largely unaffected by a shortage of healthy, wholesome food,” reads one extract from the book, referring to the fact that rabbit meat would have been used by locals to survive.
Families from Ballymote, Ballinacarrow, Keash, Tubbercurry, Enniscrone and more fea- ture too, as they caught rabbits to supplement their meagre income, or to create a livelihood during periods of unemployment.
‘ The Rabbit Industry in Ireland, 20th Century Snapshots’ is available to buy from Liber Bookshop, Sligo. Michael Conry can be contacted via email on conrymj@ gmail. com.