Sunday 31 October 2021

The Stolen Village.


 I was up in Tralee a couple of weeks ago and found a great second hand book shop.  The owner was really interesting to talk to and we talked about books about Cork and Kerry..

I purchased two books.  One about a lad growing up on the Blasket Isles and one about the 1631 raid on Baltimore village in Roaring Water Bay here in West Cork by Barbary  pirates.  I've worked in Baltimore and there are pubs named after the 1631 raid.

It's a fascinating reading and apparently 35000 Europeans were captured by Barbary Algerian pirates from the 16th to the 19thcentury.  It's a great read and certainly a different take on the slave trade history we all learned and read about at school.  Imagine being a West Cork milk maid and ending up in a harem or a galley slave?

English Heavy Rock band  The Darkness were staying once on Valentia Island in County Kerry.  They heard the story of the lost village and were inspired to pen the following song:

It's wild today looking at our Bay.




8 comments:

  1. That does sound like a fascinating read. I am not familiar with that aspect of our history and shall read up on it now that you have drawn my attention to it. Thanks Dave.

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  2. Hi JayCee. I find it fascinating. It's interesting how we've never been taught about the Barbary pirates making European slaves. It's a good read on a wet and windy day here on the Irish Riviera.😊

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  3. Shudder. Those were NOT the days. Especially if you were a west Cork milk maid. Interesting reading though

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  4. Shudder LA. It really surprised me that the Ottoman and Algerian forces would sail to far off places like Scotland and West Cork to capture slaves. The Vikings or the Danes came to Western Western Ireland and plundered and pillaged. Frightening times,

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  5. I wandered off to read about pirates and slavery...so much that I never knew. Thanks, Northsider.

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  6. Bloody pirates! Where did they hide the village after they had stolen it? Nothing's safe when there are pirates around. Perhaps they towed it to Maryland on the east coast of America.

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  7. Me too Debby. I'm glad you sailed away and read about the pirates and their adventures and slavery. I'm enjoying the book.

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  8. Maybe YP. I think they took York also.

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