ENTERTAINMENT: TG4 doc highlighting Mayo’s whaling past airs tonight

A fascinating new documentary called ‘Fathaigh na Farraige’ (‘Giants of the Sea’) is airing on TG4 tonight (Wednesday), September 18, at 9.30pm, explores our relationship with the cetaceans that roam our seas.
The term ‘cetacean’ refers collectively to the group aquatic mammals commonly known as whales, dolphins and porpoises. There are 26 different cetacean species in Irish waters, ranging from the diminutive porpoise to the blue whale, the largest animal on earth. These days we have a positive relationship with these beautiful creatures, with most of us understanding the importance of protecting their numbers. But it was not always this way.
‘Fathaigh na Farraige’ documentary unearths our little-known whaling past, from the establishment of Ireland’s first whaling-station in 1780 by Donegal man Thomas Nesbitt (the inventor of the swivel gun-harpoon), to a Norwegian-owned industrial whaling-station set up on the Iniskea Islands off the coast of Mayo.
Founded in 1908, as whaling had been prohibited in Norway, the whalers’ policy of over-exploitation has had a lasting effect on whale populations here, with right, sei and blue whales driven close to extinction.
Filmed in some of the country’s most spectacular locations, the programme explores our complex relationship with the sharks and cetaceans that swim in Irish waters, from our history of hunting them for food and profit, to today’s efforts at conserving their populations.
These cetaceans were not the only gentle giants to be hunted to near-extinction in Ireland. For centuries, the basking shark – a slow and gentle filter-feeder, was hunted up and down the coast.
Just after World War II, the breathtakingly-beautiful Keem Bay and its nearby harbour of Poirtín on Achill Island was the scene of the largest basking shark fishery in the world. During a period of mass emigration from the west of Ireland, the industry provided much-needed employment; but at what cost? With over 9,000 basking sharks killed on Achill Island alone between 1950 and 1965, basking sharks and cetaceans were hunted for one primary reason: oil.
‘Fathaigh na Farraige’ manages to condense our centuries-old complex relationship with these majestic animals into 50 minutes of captivating TV viewing, with interviews from former shark hunters, conservationists, marine archaeologists and maritime historians.
Incredible archive footage is also featured – including footage of the very last shark killed in Keem Bay, as well as extraordinary footage from from a 115-year-old film named ‘Whaling Afloat and Ashore’, by Robert Paul, which documents whaling life on Iniskea.
Among the many Mayo people to feature are Ted Sweeney and Páiric Mac Amhoigh from Blacksod; historian Diarmuid Gielty; former basking shark fisherman, Brian McNeill; marine scientist with the Irish Basking Shark Project, Sorsha Kennedy; and Mick Kane, director of the Achill Outdoor Training and Education Centre.
The filming locations include the Iniskeas, Keem Bay and Poitín Harbour on Achill Island, Inver and Bruckless House in Co Donegal, Loophead in Co Clare, Dingle Bay and the Blasket Islands in Co Kerry, and both Donegal Bay and Broadhaven Bay.