Limerick was formerly an important place for exporting grain and provisions. At that time a fine fleet of schooners, principally employed in the trade to London, was owned there; and some large brigs, barques, and ships, engaged in the passenger and timber trade with North America, hailed from the port. But the maritime trade has declined greatly of late years, and the number of vessels has become proportionably reduced. At present the shipping consists of a few colliers and timber vessels, and a fleet of five screw steamers. The latter monopolize so much of the trade between the city and the English ports as the railways do not absorb. A number of foreign vessels, principally with grain from the Mediterranean, arrive at the port, and the seamen that are met with here are for the most part Italians, French, and Austrians. There is now a large floating dock at Limerick with gates 75 feet wide. A Sailors’ Home was recently erected here, but it has never been opened, as there are at present hardly any sailors to be found at the port, except a few such foreigners as have been just described.
“Visits to the Sea Coasts” in The Shipwrecked Mariner Vol VIII No XXIX January 1861
Irish waterways history 