I HARBOURS AND LIGHTHOUSES (CORK).
t ,.
.
.
<i-5 tV^'
^ RETURN to an Order of the Honourable The House of Commons,
dated 13 February 1849;—-for, COPY " of the Report on the Memorials presented to the Lords of the
Admiralty, with reference to the Harbours and Lighthouses on the Coast of the County of Cork."
Admiralty, \ J.
H.
HAY, 16 February 1849.
J Chief Clerk.
Ordered, by The House of Commons, to be Printed, 5 March 1849.
Admiralty, Harbour Department, 10 November 1848.
REPORT on the Memorials to the Admiralty relative to the Harbours and
Coast Lights of the County of Cork
The following six memorials from the county of Cork have recently been pre¬ sented to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty by the Earl of Bandon and Viscount Bernard, m.
p.
:
1st.
From the Grand Jury of the county of Cork.
2d.
From the inhabitants of Kinsale, Bandon, and its vicinity.
3d.
From the inhabitants of Courtmacsherry and its neighbourhood.
4th.
From the residents in Clonakilty and its vicinity.
5th.
From the inhabitants of Innishannon and its neighbourhood.
Lastly.
From the residents at Skibbereen and Schull, and in the south¬
western portions of the county.
The memorials are numerously signed by Noblemen, Members of Parliament, Justices of the Peace, Clergymen, Merchants and Shipowners, and represent the opinions of a population of about 700,000 persons.
_ They state, first, That the memorialists have learned, with much satisfaction, that their Lordships have decided upon a more accurate supervision of the harbours of the country, and upon the establishment of a Harbour Department at the Admiralty.
Secondly, They specially call attention to the neglected state of the lights, buoys and beacons on the south-west coast of Ireland; and pray their Lordships will take such measures as shall prevent the recurrence of the numerous disasters from shipwreck, and shall preserve life and property.
Thirdly, They point out that, at Kinsale, and at the harbours to the westward of it, there is a total want of harbour superintendence; that there are no harbour¬ masters nor harbour regulations; that ballast is thrown overboard with impunity; that there are dangerous rocks and shoals without a buoy or perch to mark them ; and that, in some cases, dues levied on shipping are applied to other purposes than harbour improvements.
Lastly They state that one of the chief causes of the neglected condition ot the smaller harbours of Ireland is the want of a Harbour Act, and the expense attendant upon passing a Private Local Act through Parliament, and pray their Lordships to use their influence in inducing Her Majesty's Government to introduce a General Public Harbour Act, which all parties might take advantage of, bv petition, on the recommendation of the Admiralty and Board of Trade.
' y l
A From 97-A
