IRELAND 



3047 



IRELAND 



Fisheries. These form a natural resource of 

 the greatest importance, but of late years the 

 fullest advantage has not been taken of them, 

 fully a third fewer men and boats being en- 

 gaged in the business in 1916 than in 1890. 

 Dried fish are even imported in considerable 

 quantities. The government has done its best 

 in recent years to revive the industry, seeing 

 in it hope for many of the poor who cannot 

 wrest a living from the soil. The total annual 

 catch is between $1,500,000 and $2,000,000 

 worth, salmon being by all means the most 

 important single catch. 



Agriculture. This is, and always has been, 

 by far the most important industry in Ireland, 

 and according to agricultural conditions the 

 prosperity of the island has fluctuated. The 

 natural advantages are considerable, for there 

 are large stretches of cultivable land, with a 

 deep, rich soil, and the climate is favorable to 

 most temperate-region crops. But of these 

 advantages the Irish people have not always 

 been allowed to reap the benefit. Centuries 

 ago much of the best land was parceled out 

 in large estates among the conquering Eng- 

 lish, frequently non-residents, and by them it 

 was rented on oppressive terms to Irish ten- 

 ants. Much of the soil was soon over-culti- 

 vated, and so became exhausted. But in recent 

 years conditions have decidedly improved. 

 Large tracts of land were withdrawn from til- 

 lage and given over to pasturage, for which 

 purpose its rich growth of grass peculiarly 

 fits it. 



A great improvement was made, too, by the 

 establishment of a department of agriculture. 

 This body, which came into being in 1899, 

 has as its objects experiments as to the best 

 location and methods for certain crops; the 

 instruction of the people, especially the young 

 men and women, on agricultural subjects; and 

 the betterment of live stock. See, also, sub- 

 head Congested Districts Board, page 3049. 



To-day the largest acreage is devoted to oats, 

 and the next to potatoes, the chief food crop. 

 Wheat, once a crop of great importance, has 

 now sunk to minor rank, but barley is still 

 grown in large quantities, and in the north, 

 near the linen-making district, there are broad 



fields of flax. Vegetables and small fruits 

 make up a considerable acreage, and hay is 

 cut in certain sections. 



As indicated above, stock raising is of ever- 

 increasing importance. Indeed, there are to-day 

 in Ireland more head of cattle in proportion 

 to area than in any other country of Europe, 

 with the possible exception of Denmark. The 

 young cattle are exported in great numbers 

 to England, and are there fattened for mar- 

 ket. There are almost as many sheep in the 

 island as cattle, but there are less than one- 

 third as many pigs, though that animal has 

 long been considered the Irishman's particular 

 property. Excellent horses are also grown in 

 Ireland, both of the cart-horse and of the 

 hunter type, and there was a great demand 

 for them at the outbreak of the War of the 

 Nations in 1914. 



Transportation and Trade. The rivers and 

 canals which served for transportation before 

 the extensive building of railways began have 

 not been allowed to fall into disuse, and are 

 to-day of the greatest importance. The capi- 

 tal city of Dublin is connected by canals with 

 the Shannon, and shorter canals join practi- 

 cally all of the important streams. There is 

 also an excellent system of railways, or rather, 

 a number of small connecting systems, for 

 the abundance of short lines is one of the 

 characteristics of railroad transportation in 

 Ireland. The total number of miles of rail- 

 way in the island is 3,403, over a thousand 

 more than that possessed by Maine, the state 

 which it most resembles in* size. 



Several steamer lines, from Belfast, Dublin, 

 Waterford and Cork, connect Ireland with 

 Great Britain, and American steamers make 

 Queenstown an important port of call. The 

 commerce of Ireland is considerable, the im- 

 ports and the exports each totaling more than 

 $300,000,000 a year, the former exceeding the 

 latter by about $25,000,000. Most of the ex- 

 ports, which consist largely of live stock, 

 linens, liquors, meat products and dairy prod- 

 ucts, are sent to ' Great Britain, but other 

 countries, including the United States, send to 

 Ireland vast quantities of farm products. Bel- 

 fast has the largest trade. 



Political and Social Conditions 



Government. After 1800, the year of the 

 Act of Union (see subtitle History below), 

 Ireland was an integral part of Great Britain, 

 and had no Parliament of its own. It sent, 



instead, 103 representatives to the British 

 House of Commons and twenty-eight peers, 

 elected for life, to the House of Lords. Never 

 at any time were the Irish satisfied with such 



