In 1650, Sweden was permitted, as a favour, to employ a hundred vessels in the Irish fishery; and the Dutch in the reign of Charles I.were admitted to the fisheries on the payment of 30,000L.

In 1673, Sir W.Temple, in a letter to Lord Essex, says that "the fishing of Ireland might prove a mine under water as rich as any under ground."[9] The coasts of Ireland abound in all the kinds of fish in common use--cod, ling, haddock, hake, mackerel, herring, whiting, conger, turbot, brill, bream, soles, plaice, dories, and salmon.

The banks off the coast of Galway are frequented by myriads of excellent fish; yet, of the small quantity caught, the bulk is taken in the immediate neighbourhood of the shores.

Galway bay is said to be the finest fishing ground in the world; but the fish cannot be expected to come on shore unsought: they must be found, followed, and netted.

The fishing-boats from the west of Scotland are very successful; and they often return the fish to Ireland, cured, which had been taken out of the Irish bays.