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Papers: List of Papers 2002-04 |
The Coasting Trade Terry Conlan |
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Skerries, its Harbour and the Coasting Trade |
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Members of Skerries Historical Society were treated to this fascinating paper given by Terry Conlan on Tuesday 13th. May, 2003. From the time of the Vikings the east coast around Skerries, Malahide, Howth and Baldoyle was a great seafaring area. The late 19th. century was a particularly busy sea-trading era in Skerries. Arklow had the largest number of sailing vessels with 55 ships. Skerries was second with 15 ships and Wexford was third with 9 ships. The trade out of Skerries was limestone and some timber, and the cargo coming in to Skerries was principally coal. Sail was on the way out around 1900 and steam became the preferred power source.. |
Some sailing vessels from Skerries plied their trade world wide. There is an account of the "Bertie Mills" from Skerries sailing to Cardiff, then to Cadiz, out to St. John's, Newfoundland, to Labrador, back across the Atlantic to Gibraltar in 24 days, then to Genoa for Christmas 1898. These ships would have a compass but maybe no sextant. It must have been magic for young men in Skerries to join sailing ships and travel the world, even though the work was very dangerous and arduous. Over the years many ships and crews were lost. Joe Murray thanked Terry Conlan for his interesting paper and read a poem to Skerries seamen by John Fox. |