124 BRITISH FISHERIES 



parts of Ireland the fishing population has not yet 

 [1868] recovered from the depression and ruin 

 caused by the famine ; and the subsequent emigra- 

 tion, by taking off the youngest and ablest of the 

 fishermen, and leaving behind the old, the feeble, 

 and the incompetent, has still further operated, not 

 only in reducing the numbers, but in lowering the 

 average condition, of those who remain behind." 



" Multitudes had to part with their boats and 

 gear for anything they could obtain, to procure 

 the means of appeasing the hunger of themselves 

 and their families. At last nothing would be 

 advanced on boats and materials, and a large 

 amount of both rotted on the beach." ^ 



The result of these disastrous events was, there- 

 fore, that when the Royal Commission of 1866 

 came to report, they had to point out the striking 

 contrast between the state of the fisheries in Great 

 Britain and Ireland. While in the former coun- 

 tries the industry was everywhere in a flourishing 

 condition, and gave every sign of indefinite ex- 

 pansion, everything in Ireland indicated great 

 depression and want of prosperity. Even the 

 small numbers of fishermen and boats for 1865 

 gave an exaggerated impression of the state of the 

 fisheries. Very few indeed of the persons re- 

 turned as fishermen lived entirely by fishing. At 

 some places, such as Dungarvon, Waterford, and 

 Kinsale, they were real fishermen ; but almost all 



1 Report, Royal Commission on Irish Oyster Fisheries, 1870. 



