Fishermen, Inis Mór, Aran Islands

Aran islanders had to combine a number of occupations to eke out a living on the western islands: fishing, farming, kelp-making (extracting iodine from seaweed), tourism, knitting sweaters and making fishing nets. Census returns for the Aran Islands plot a steady population decline from 3521 residents in 1841 to 1251 in 2011 as people left in pursuit of better prospects in Britain or America.