Inis Beag
Island life

Messenger argues that these customs were as not as pure as other outsiders stated. He found that 11 of the 111 adult males and 9 of the 85 adult females had given up the traditional local clothing for imported styles from the mainland. This behaviour was especially prevalent among the younger women, with no adherents between the ages of 18 and 29. He also found that use of the local curach had declined in recent decades, from 30 to 50 three-man crews fishing nearly all year in the early 1900s to nine crews working from the island in 1960. Messenger found that essentially all of the islanders older than eight spoke English proficiently, mixed English regularly into their speech, and even confessed to their priests in English. He attributed the rise in English to a practical view of language; many young people emigrate and would be disadvantaged by speaking only Irish.
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