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In 1784 the fishing industry was at its peak
in Skerries and it was the premier fishing port
in Ireland. The Irish Parliament paid a bounty
of £1 per ton of fish caught by each boat. The
largest amount of bounty money for boats in Ireland,
over £1,800 was paid to Skerries boats in that
year. "The First Report of Irish Fisheries Commission
of Inquiry shows that in 1836 there were 38 fishing
vessels operating from the harbour. Annual reports
furnished to the House of Commons from 1836 to
1921 show that herring fishing was in decline
on this part of the coast.
This decline is also shown by the number of
fishing boats in Skerries - reduced to 12 by 1859.
The report for 1889 states that "At Skerries and
Loughshinney there was one trawler but the ground
off this coast is mostly worked by Balbriggan
and Ringsend trawlers". In the 1830s there were
eight ships carpenters in the town and the nets
and lines were made by the fishermen's families.
The Skerries women made oilskins for the men by
steeping calico in linseed oil and coating it
with tar. The sailors wore long knitted jerseys
called sailors' frocks. Sail making was carried
out in lofts in Land's Lane, in McLoughlin's Lane
and in the Bark Yard, where sails were boiled
in oak and cutch to dye them. A rope maker called
John Keane made ropes in the RopeWalk; while Mick
Walker made hand made nails in the Square. In
winter the boats went fishing as far north as
Killybegs in Co. Donegal bringing their salt with
them to cure the fish. When in Killybegs while
the sea was too rough for fishing the Skerries
men helped build the local church and the Parish
Priest to thank them allocated one pew for the
use of Skerries fishermen forever.
With cargoes of cured herrings, boats from Skerries
sets off for the Baltic ports of Hamburg, Stettin
and Danzig. From these ports they often brought
back brightly coloured painted wooden bowls to
decorate their homes and amber necklaces and brooches
for there loved ones. Some invested in timepieces
and in 1838 there were thirty-one new clocks in
Skerries. On other trips their cargoes were potatoes
to Liverpool and oats from Cork to Bristol. The
Ringsend trawlers regularly came into Skerries
to unload their catch. They had their own transport
to meet them.
The horses and carts went out across the sand
and the fish were transferred from the boats to
the carts and taken straight to the city. Sport
was not omitted from the fishermen's lives as
the Ringsend men always brought their hurleys
with them. The men from Skerries often played
their colleagues from Ringsend, whose team was
called "Star of the Sea".
Back to: History of Skerries
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