Goose barnacle migrate, it was thought that barnacle geese, "Branta leucopsis", developed from this crustacean, since they were never seen to nest in temperate Europe, hence the English names "goose barnacle", "barnacle goose" and the scientific name "Lepas anserifera" (, "goose"). The confusion was prompted by the similarities in colour and shape. Because they were often found on driftwood, it was assumed that the barnacles were attached to branches before they fell in the water. The archdeacon of Brecon, Gerald of Wales, made this claim in his "Topographia Hiberniae". Since barnacle geese were thought to be "neither flesh, nor born of flesh",
Thomas Barnacle Thomas Barnacle Thomas Barnacle (1846 – 9 July 1921) from Galway, Ireland was the father of Nora Barnacle and father-in-law of the novelist, James Joyce. Barnacle was active in the trade unions from the 1860s to the 1890s. Though illiterate, he had a trade as a well-skilled baker—the family line of work—and was much in demand till the end of his life. He often freelanced beyond the town in such places as Oughterard. He married Annie Honoria Healy in 1881 and they had children Mary, Nora, Bridget (known as Delia), Thomas, and Kathleen (born 1896). One other boy died in