The total registered tonnage in the Port of Cork indicated an eightfold increase comparing 1797 – 9 to 1846 – 8. This was mostly made up of timber barques, brigs and schooners, since steamers only accounted for 10% of the total registered tonnage. The aggregate tonnage in 1840 was 32,000 tons and by 1854 surpassed 50,000 tons (Bielenberg 1991) ‘ In 1840 there were 368 vessels on the Cork Shipping Register with an aggregate tonnage of 32,870 and by 1850 the number had increased to 408 vessels with a tonnage of 46,985 tons. In 1854 the shipping tonnage passed the 50,000 tons mark for the first time, and out of a total of 409 vessels, twenty-three were steamers with a total tonnage of 5041 tons. From that date onward the sailing fleet steadily declined, and the steamship established its supremacy, particularly in the cross-channel trade ’ (Anderson 1961) .
Port of Call
A ‘Port of Call’ was a transit port for ships on long voyages, where merchant vessels could easily access additional cargo and supplies. The importance of Cork lay in its geographic location, easy access to the harbour and availability of merchandise. Outward bound, that merchandise was commonly passengers bound for the Americas. Despite the decline of the sailing fleet, in 1881 Cork received 40% of all UK shipping calling ‘ for orders ’ . That was more than double the number entering Falmouth, the leading ‘Port of Call ’ on the British mainland. Economic spin-off was realized in the form of services such as repairs, victualling, towage, fuel and facilities for crew change (Thuillier 2014).
Ports of Kinsale and Bandon
( Union, T. Crowley )
‘It was the strong naval presence and the town’s role in victualling the westbound fleets that gave Kinsale its importance in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In terms of trade in exports and imports, Kinsale was very much in third place on the Cork coast after Cork and Youghal ’ (Thuillier 2014) . ‘ Easy access and the short distance to the sea at Kinsale, which had built its reputation as a victualling port, were no longer advantages as ships got bigger and were unable to enter the harbour. By 1765, an Admiralty house had been constructed at Cove (Cobh) in the Port of Cork and usage at Kinsale declined, many of its naval functions having been transferred to Cork by 1800 ’ ( ibid ). ‘ In 1788 from the shipping perspective, Kinsale had 39 small vessels, many no bigger than the 40-foot Kinsale hookers, with a total tonnage of just 1,550 tons ’ ( ibid ; see Two Friends ). Little growth occurred in the Kinsale fleet after the Napoleonic War (1803 – 15) or through the mid-nineteenth century, in contrast to the Port of Cork. The emerging mercantile class was inhibited by the exclusionist Kinsale Corporation until 1840, when it was replaced by Town Commissioners. In 1835 only five deep sea vessels, averaging 200 tons, traded with Kinsale, importing timber, coal, iron and salt. Salt was particularly important to the thriving Kinsale fish-preserving industry ( ibid ).
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