Search
Close this search box.

The Cadgers’ Pad

The Cadgers’ Pad  by Séamus Murphy

‘Cadger’ is a term for pedlars, hawkers or mongers which has been traced to the 14th century: travelling fish sellers were known as cadgers in the Mournes and west Donegal within living memory. ‘Pad’ signifies ‘path’. The Cadgers’ Pad is a route across the Cooley Mountains to Ravensdale and Dundalk which was used for centuries for the transport of herring to market. The Carlingford Lough herring fishery was massive in the 19th century, employing almost 300 people in the small community of Omeath according to a government report in the 1830s. The fish were carried to Dundalk by a column of young women and girls, each carrying a creel with about two stone (13kg) of herrings wrapped in seaweed.

In the 1860s the ‘Cadgers’ Road’ was considered to be important enough to be marked on the revised Ordnance Survey maps issued by the Griffiths Valuation survey.

The industry declined in the 1860s as the herring migrated from the Lough towards the Isle of Man. One young woman was photographed at the Ravensdale end of the trail in 1888. Annie Flynn became known as the Last Cadger.

The route remained important for Omeath people with something to sell even after the fish were gone. The last Irish speaker in the Omeath Gaeltacht,  Annie O’Hanlon, told a Folklore Commission collector in 1957: “It wasn’t unusual in the old times, when I was young, for a woman or a girl to throw a bag of hens on her back and walk from here to Dundalk over the mountain—out the Cadgers Pad—to sell them: that would be at Christmas time. That was common.”

Annie O’Hanlon with grand-daughter, 1957

Share:

Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
LinkedIn

Leave a Reply

On Key

Related Posts

A person and person standing in front of a stone building Description automatically generated with medium confidence

Carlingford Heritage News

Carlingford Heritage Centres Spring News Carlingford Heritage Centre is delighted to announce a jam-packed spring summer schedule. We have so many different events and activities

Carlingford Community Newsletter

March Edition 2022 Carlingford Community Newsletter March 2022 Edition This newsletter is jointly produced by the bodies representing the Carlingford Community, namely: Carlingford Lough Heritage

Carlingford Community Newsletter

February 2022 Edition This newsletter is jointly produced by the bodies representing the Carlingford Community, namely: Carlingford Lough Heritage Trust, CLHT Carlingford Tidy Towns,CTT Carlingford

Carlingford Community Newsletter

January 2022, Edition CARLINGFORD COMMUNITY NEWSLETTER JANUARY 2022 EDITION THIS NEWSLETTER IS JOINTLY PRODUCED BY THE BODIES REPRESENTING THE CARLINGFORD COMMUNITY, NAMELY: Carlingford Lough Heritage

Carlingford Community Newsletter

Carlingford Community Newsletter December 2021 Edition Carlingford Community Newsletter NO. 92 This newsletter is jointly produced by the bodies representing the Carlingford Community, namely: Carlingford

We use cookies to give you the best online experience. By agreeing you accept the use of cookies in accordance with our cookie policy.

Privacy Settings saved!
Privacy Settings

When you visit any web site, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. Control your personal Cookie Services here.

These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems.

We use WooCommerce as a shopping system. For cart and order processing 2 cookies will be stored. This cookies are strictly necessary and can not be turned off.
  • woocommerce_cart_hash
  • woocommerce_items_in_cart

Decline all Services
Accept all Services
Get in touch

872 Arch Ave.
Chaska, Palo Alto, CA 55318
hello@example.com
ph: +1.123.434.965

Work inquiries

jobs@example.com
ph: +1.321.989.645