CHAPTER VIII 



THE SEA-FISHERIES OF IRELAND 



THERE is thus a marked contrast between the 

 manner in which the fisheries have been adminis- 

 tered in the northern and southern parts of Great 

 Britain. In Scotland the authority has always 

 been (in modern times) a strong and active one, 

 exercising a vigilant control over a continually 

 growing industry, and enjoying a relatively liberal 

 measure of State support. Such an authority 

 never existed in England, and it is only during the 

 last fifteen years of the nineteenth century that the 

 supervision of the national sea-fisheries has been 

 attempted ; and even now the central authority is 

 by no means so powerful or well equipped as the 

 corresponding Scottish body. The weakness of 

 the English administration has, however, had 

 little effect on the development of the fisheries, 

 for the natural energy of the people, the wealth 

 of the country, and the comparatively hospitable 

 character of the English coast, both on the North 

 Sea and in the Channel, were advantages which 



