Maybe relevant, maybe not. My great-grandfather Andrew Plunkett was a "coal porter" in the busy port of Kingstown (now Dun Laoghaire), Co. Dublin, in the 1880's. That meant he transported coal to and maybe from ships in the port, maybe for fuel, maybe for cargo. He died in 1888 at age 22, two weeks before his daughter, my grandmother, was born. The ascribed cause of death was phthisis, which usually means pulmonary tuberculosis but can also mean some other similar progressive disease. I've wondered if in his case it was a coal-related respiratory disease. For what it's worth. PJ Texas > > Hi I see that others have in their listed occupation of ancestors > in the 1880 plus as "porter". Does anyone know exactly > what that job was and what it involved? > Doorman? Moving man ? What? > Thanks f a healy > >