editor's preface. 



more than a new edition ; it is practically a new book. No fewer than 

 250 pages of entirely fresh matter have been added; quite a dozen of the 

 original articles have been re-written, and considerably amplified, and every 

 contribution has been revised and, as far as possible, brought up to date. 

 In addition a full Index has been appended. The new contributions 

 include articles on the brewing and distilling industries ; the bacon-curing 

 industry ; the milHng industry ; the leather and tanning industry ; the 

 Derry shirt-making industry ; Irish canals ; the Royal Agricultural Im- 

 provement Society of Ireland, and the North-West Agricultural Association. 

 The book is still, no doubt, imperfect, if considered as a complete survey 

 of Ireland's economic resources ; but, within its necessary limits, it presents, 

 perhaps, a fuller and a fairer statement of the actual industrial position of 

 this country than is contained in any other single volume. It is hoped, 

 therefore, that, for several years to come, IRELAND; INDUSTRIAL AND 

 Agricultural, may serve as a useful book of reference, which, if it does 

 not always fully satisfy intelligent curiosity, will at least stimulate thought 

 and suggest lines of enquiry. Economic Ireland is still a terra incognita 

 to too large a number, even of Irishmen. The material resources of this 

 country have, in turn, been unduly exaggerated and underrated. An 

 unreasoning optimism, and an equally thoughtless pessimism have, too often, 

 been substituted for the calm observation and consideration of facts quite 

 accessible to scientific tests. In the following pages will be found what is 

 believed to be an unbiassed account of Ireland's Economic and Industrial 

 position at the dawn of the twentieth century, with some statement of the 

 historical events that have led up to that position. Such a narrativre is 

 essential to any serious study of the " Irish Problem "—-but, needless to 

 say, it does not compass the whole of that problem. Issues, vital to its full 

 consideration — the question of land tenure, for example — have, of necessity, 

 been omitted from the present volume, for reasons that ought to be obvious. 

 Such issues, however, are precisely those least likely to be overlooked in 

 this country, or in Great Britain, and are those, also, on which a very large 

 amount of information is already easily available in other publications. On 

 the other hand, the matters — vital ones, too, to the progress of Ireland — 

 discussed in this work, deal with questions on many of which full and trust- 

 worthy information has not hitherto been generally accessible, and in 

 regard to which, public opinion is not yet sufficiently enlightened. 



The Editor has again to thank the following for permission to use, for the 

 purposes of illustration, certain blocks of which they held the copyright : — 

 The Secretary, Board of Education, London ; The Arts and Crafts 

 Society of Ireland; Messrs. WiTHERBY AND SON, the pubHshers of 

 Knowledge; Messrs. CHARLES GRIFFIN AND Co., the publishers of 



