168 



HEPORT — 1878. 



twenty years, those of Belfast and Cork have nearly doubled, and that of 

 Dublin has considerably more than doubled in the same time. Also, the 

 tonnage of Glasgow is only one-fourth more and that of Liverpool is not 

 four times greater than that of Dublin. 



The increase in the tonnage of the Port of Dublin is not confined to 

 one class of vessel alone ; for we find that while the coasting trade 

 increased from 821,640 tons to 1,543,861 tons, or nearly doubled in the 

 last twenty years, the oversea trade increased from 67,848 tons to 

 299,876 tons, or more than quadrupled in the same period. Previous to 

 1865 the shipping quays of Dublin were, with the exception of a short 

 length opposite the Custom House, founded at or close to low water 

 level, and when the tide was out the foreshore used to strip out a long 

 way in front of the walls. .To meet the demand for a greater depth than 

 this, timber jetties had been from time to time constructed along portions 

 of the North Wall, so as to give about 8 feet at low water in line of keel ; 

 and for many years this expedient was found to answer for the cross- 

 channel steam trade and for a few of the smaller oversea vessels, while 

 the larger vessels of the latter class either discharged in Kingstown 

 Harbour, or in a small excavation called Halpin's Pool, which had been 

 dredged in the open harbour beyond the end of the North Wall. The 

 first real attempt at providing deep water quays was commenced in 1864 

 by rebuilding nearly 700 feet in length of the east end of the North Wall 

 quay, so as to allow vessels drawing 17 feet to lie afloat alongside at low 

 water ; but the most important improvements of this kind were not 

 commenced till 1870, since which date 6500 feet of quay have either 

 been rebuilt or constructed where no quays existed before, so as to give 

 depths of from 15 to 24 feet at low water, and enable the cross-channel 

 steamers to sail at fixed hours independently of the tide, as well as allow 

 the larger class of oversea vessels which now frequent the port to lie 

 always afloat. It will be observed that the rebuilding of the former 

 quay walls at a greater depth did not add to their length, though it 

 enabled rather more vessels than formerly to be accommodated in a given 

 length of wall, and the extending commerce of the port rendered it 

 necessary to provide additional deep water accommodation to suit the 

 oversea trade, which, as already observed, has increased more than four- 



* The tonnage of Cork Harbour is exclusive of vessels calling for orders, mails, 

 or passengers, and not loading or unloading cargo. 



