What a difference in the appearence of Wicklow harbour and quays. In those days the harbour and river was never bare of shipping as it is so frequently the case nowadays, there were always some ships loading or onloading, at times quiet a large number be thus engaged. Wicklow ship owners at that time possessed between them a fleet of about a dozen vessels. Those ships were manned chiefly by men and the boys belonging to the town.

The shipping trade was therefore a source of healthy employment to the men and valuable training to the boys. The constant coming and going of ships a larger number of pilots busier than are required today. All the Wicklow vessels are engaged in the coasting trade chiefly of coals, their outward cargoes usually of timber and oats. The coming of the