[10] HALL, Retrospect of a Long Life, ii. 324.
[11] The Commissioners of Irish Fisheries, in one of their reports, observe:—"Notwithstanding the diminished population, the fish captured round the coast is so inadequate to the wants of the population that fully 150,000L. worth of ling, cod, and herring are annually imported from Norway, Newfoundland, and Scotland, the vessels bearing these cargoes, as they approach the shores of Ireland, frequently sailing through large shoals of fish of the same description as they are freighted with!"
[12] The following examination of Mr. J. Ennis, chairman of the Midland and Great Western Railway, took place before the "Royal Commission on Railways," as long ago as the year 1846:—
Chairman—"Is the fish traffic of any importance to your railway?"
Mr. Ennis—"of course it is, and we give it all the facilities that we can.... But the Galway fisheries, where one would expect to find plenty of fish, are totally neglected."
Sir Rowland Hill—"What is the reason of that?"
Mr. Ennis—"I will endeavour to explain. I had occasion a few nights ago to speak to a gentleman in the House of Commons with regard to an application to the Fishery Board for 2000L. to restore the pier at Buffin, in Clew Bay, and I said, 'Will you join me in the application? I am told it is a place that swarms with fish, and if we had a pier there the fishermen will have some security, and they will go out.' The only answer I received was, 'They will not go out; they pay no attention whatever to the fisheries; they allow the fish to come and go without making any effort to catch them....'"
Mr. Ayrton—"Do you think that if English fishermen went to the west coast of Ireland they would be able to get on in harmony with the native fishermen?"
Mr. Ennis—"We know the fact to be, that some years ago, a company was established for the purpose of trawling in Galway Bay, and what was the consequence? The Irish fishermen, who inhabit a region in the neighbourhood of Galway, called Claddagh, turned out against them, and would not allow them to trawl, and the Englishmen very properly went away with their lives."
Sir Rowland Hill—"Then they will neither fish themselves nor allow any one else to fish!"