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The Claddagh was an ancient Irish-speaking fishing village that lay just outside the town of Galway for hundreds of years. It was a close-knit community who spoke their own dialect of Irish, had their own distinctive dress and their own customs.

There had been a tradition for the men of the Claddagh to join the Royal Naval Reserve to supplement the income they made from fishing. When the Great War started, these men were mobilised into service and over the course of the war, the village gave up its most able-bodied men to serve in the British Forces. As a result, their fishing industry went into decline and the village itself would later be demolished.

Dara Folan from Galway University tells the story of The Claddagh during the war.

Location: Claddagh Hall, Nimmo鈥檚 Pier, Galway: 53掳16'01.9"N 9掳03'10.3"W
Image: Children in the Claddagh 1901
Image courtesy of Library of Congress